A local authority (‘the Council’) refused a request for information relating to the results of a staff satisfaction survey. The Council considered that sections 7(2)(a) (privacy), 7(2)(c) (confidentiality), and 7(2)(f)(i) (free and frank expression of opinions) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) applied.
The Ombudsman formed the opinion that the request should not have been refused in full. He considered that sections 7(2)(a), 7(2)(c), and 7(2)(f)(i) could not apply to aggregated results, where disclosure posed no risk of identifying respondents or deterring future participation in similar surveys.
The Ombudsman agreed that individual comments provided in response to the survey could be withheld on the basis of section 7(2)(c)(i) of the LGOIMA. He recommended the disclosure of only aggregated survey results, and the Council disclosed this information to the requester accordingly.
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.