Request for information relating to application to re-join the Police—information withheld was ‘evaluative material’—disclosure of the information would have breached an implied promise of confidentiality—relevance of s 23—essence of the evaluative material made available to the requester in summary form
A former member of the Police had applied to re-join the Police but his application was not accepted. He wrote to the Police and requested, pursuant to section 24 of the OIA, information relating to his application. He was provided with a number of documents from which substantial deletions had been made under section 27(1)(c) of the OIA. He asked the Chief Ombudsman to investigate and review the response to his request.
Having obtained a report from the Commissioner of Police and reviewed the relevant material, the Chief Ombudsman was satisfied that information which had been withheld from the requester was ‘evaluative material’ as defined in section 27(2). He was also satisfied that although no express promise of confidentiality had been given to the suppliers of the information, disclosure of the information would have breached an implied promise that the information and, in respect of some of the information, the identity of the supplier, would be held in confidence.
However, it was clear that much of the evaluative material had been accepted by the Police in reaching their decision to decline the application. Given the legal right of the requester to the reasons for the decision (the requester had in fact also made a request under section 23 of the OIA for the reasons for the decision), the Chief Ombudsman concluded that the essence of the evaluative material, which had been accepted and relied on by the Police in reaching their decision, should be made available to the requester in summary form.
The Police agreed to provide a section 23 statement of reasons which set out fairly and accurately the findings on material issues of fact and the reasons for the decision to decline the requester’s application. The Chief Ombudsman was therefore able to discontinue his investigation on the basis that the complaint had been resolved.
This case note is published under the authority of the Ombudsmen Rules 1989 opens page in this tab. It sets out an Ombudsman’s view on the facts of a particular case. It should not be taken as establishing any legal precedent that would bind an Ombudsman in future.