ICO Decision On Ministry Of Education HQ

Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 24/2023 in regards to the Ministry of Education Headquarters.

A spokesperson said, “On 21 August 2023, Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 24/2023, Ministry of Education Headquarters [Ministry Headquarters]. The Applicant had submitted a Public Access to Information [PATI] request to the Ministry Headquarters for all submissions to the Ministry Headquarters in response to the Plan 2022 consultation. The Ministry Headquarters administratively denied the PATI request under section 16 [1][a] of the PATI Act stating that no records existed.

“In her Decision, the Information Commissioner confirmed that the Ministry Headquarters was justified in relying on section 16 [1][a] of the PATI Act to deny access to the Plan 2022 consultation submissions because they did not exist. The Commissioner reasoned that the Department of Education had proactively explained in the Plan 2022 itself the details of when and how various stakeholder feedback was sought and provided in 2017 during the four phases of engagement for the Plan 2022’s development. None of this feedback could reasonably be characterised as consultation in response to the Plan 2022.

“As a result, the Information Commissioner did not require the Ministry Headquarters to take any further action with respect to Decision 24/2023.”

The full version of Decision 24/2023 follows below [PDF here]:

#PATI

Category: All