Information Commissioner Issues Two Decisions
The Information Commissioner issued two decisions regarding the Department of Child and Family Services and Ministry of Education Headquarters.
A spokesperson said, “On 29 December 2023, Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 54/2023, Department of Child and Family Services and Decision 55/2023, Ministry of Education Headquarters.
“In Decision 54/2023, the Applicant had made a PATI request for records relating to the Director’s administrative leave, as well as other records. This Decision is related to Decision 10/2021, Department of Child and Family Services. In Decision 10/2021, the Information Commissioner had ordered the Department to conduct a reasonable search for records and to issue the Applicant a new initial decision on any records identified during the search.
“In response, the Department located three responsive records. Their decision refused to disclose these records to the Applicant because they contained personal information about the Director and were prohibited from disclosure under the Children Act 1998.
“In this Decision, the Information Commissioner upheld the Department’s decision to deny parts of the PATI request on the basis that the Children Act prohibited the requested records being publicly disclosed. For the parts of the records that contained personal information, the Information Commissioner found that the public interest test required disclosure of certain parts of the records where they did not touch upon the nature of the allegations made against the Director. As the executive officer with outward facing accountability for a department that services one of Bermuda’s most vulnerable populations, the Information Commissioner found that the Director should reasonably expect to be accountable to the public and that disclosure of parts of the records was necessary to further greater public understanding of the steps taken by the Department in response to complaints made in relation to the performance of the Director’s duties.
“As a result, the Information Commissioner has ordered the Department to disclose the non-exempt records by 9 February 2024.
“In Decision 55/2023, the West End Warriors for Legacy [a community group who waived their right to anonymity under the PATI Act] had requested access to records in support of the Minister of Education’s decision to close the West End Primary School and to retain the Somerset Primary School as the selected site for Sandys parish. This proposal was announced publicly in July 2021. The Ministry Headquarters had disclosed some responsive recordsto the Applicant, some of which were already in the public domain, but denied the rest of their PATI request because no other records existed or could be located.
“In her Decision, the Information Commissioner confirmed that the Ministry Headquarters had appropriately denied parts of the PATI request. However, she was not satisfied that a reasonable search had been conducted for other records. She stated that the Ministry Headquarters did not address the existence of certain records in their decision to the Applicant or submissions to her, which the Information Commissioner expected to either have existed or been directly referred to as records no longer found or available, based on the Ministry Headquarters’ public information.
“As a result, the Information Commissioner has ordered the Ministry Headquarters to conduct a reasonable search and issue a new initial decision on any newly located records by 9 February 2024.”
The full version of Decision 54/2023 follows below [PDF here]:
The full version of Decision 55/2023 follows below [PDF here]:
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