Tribunal rejects appeal over refusal by district council to disclose all information requested on Code of Conduct review panel hearing

A man who argued health and safety legislation should "reign supreme" over the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 in an appeal of South Kesteven District Council's refusal of an FOI request has had his appeal dismissed by the First Tier Tribunal (FTT).

In Mooney v Information Commissioner [2024] UKFTT 508 (GRC) (18 June 2024), the appellant, who represented himself at the hearing, argued that the 2000 Act should be “overridden” by health and safety legislation and that the council had violated safety legislation by putting "the life and quality of life of UK citizens at risk”.

The appellant submitted his request to the council in April 2023, asking for documentation on a code of conduct hearing.

They had requested information on proposals, assessments, and reports regarding the notifications, investigation, and conclusions relating to the hearing.

In response, the local authority disclosed some information but refused to provide the remainder under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which concerns personal data of third parties.

The appellant then requested an internal review of the decision, but this too was refused by the council, leading them to appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The ICO upheld the council's decision, resulting in the FTT considering the appeal.

The appeal to the FTT did not challenge the council's reliance on section 40(2) nor argue that the Commissioner's decision was wrong in law or that discretion should have been exercised differently.

Instead in his grounds of appeal, the appellant's stated: "Establish in hierarchy terms if the request for information relating to decisions by public funded bodies including Local Authorities that places the health, safety, wellbeing and quality of life of UK citizens must be declared supreme and overrides any and all exemptions including those in the FOIA."

Commenting on the grounds, the FTT said: "Indeed, the thrust of the appeal appears to be that it doesn't matter whether the requested information is exempt under s40(2) because FOIA should in any case be overridden by Health and Safety Concerns in what he describes as a 'hierarchy of legal obligations' in which Health and Safety legislation should reign supreme; - he says that with no duty of care or statutory obligations to consider the health, safety and wellbeing of UK citizens when undertaking their duties."

It added: "The Appellant's desired outcome appears to be for the Tribunal to rule that such a hierarchy of legal obligations does, or should, exist. Such a ruling is not within the Tribunal's jurisdiction, and we cannot consider such matters.

"The requested information is unquestionably the personal information of third parties. The appellant has failed to provide any evidence or arguable grounds to dispute the evidence and rationale on which the decision notice has been based.

"We agree, accept and endorse the Commissioner's carefully reasoned decision notice."

The FTT also concluded that there was no dispute that section 40(20) of the 2000 Act applied.

It then went on to consider whether the appellant's legitimate interests in disclosure outweighed the council's legitimate interests in withholding the information.

The appellant argued there was a legitimate interest in disclosure as decisions made by the council were placing "the life and quality of life of UK citizens at risk which is a criminal offence in violation of safety legislation." 

However, the FTT found that this argument did "not relate at all to the content of the requested information, which is about a complaint made against a councillor of the Council in relation to his conduct".

On this point, the FTT also highlighted that information about the code of conduct hearing, including the allegations and outcome, had already been published.

It ultimately found that disclosure was not necessary for the identified legitimate interests.

The FTT was made up of Brian Kennedy KC with specialist members Paul Taylor and Dave Sivers.

Adam Carey