Freedom of information statistics

Applying exemptions

We aim to be as open and transparent as possible about the work we do, but there are times where it isn’t appropriate for us to share the information, we hold in response to a Freedom of Information request. Where this is the case, we may apply an exemption. The Freedom of Information Act contains exemptions that allow organisations to withhold information from a requester. In some cases, it allows organisations to refuse to confirm or deny whether they hold information.

In some circumstances, we will apply an exemption to part of a request or sometimes we may apply an exemption to the whole of a request. Sometimes we apply more than one exemption to a single request. You can read more about exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act on the Information Commissioner’s website.

About the exemptions in 2024/25

The most common exemptions applied was section 12, 40(1) and 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Applying Section 12 means that we can’t provide the information because the time taken to find, locate or retrieve the information is likely to exceed the appropriate limit set out in the legislation, which for us is 18 hours.

Whenever we apply this exemption, we always try to provide the requester with information that they may find helpful, as we already publish a lot of detail about what we do. For example, information on our website about our approach to the different types of complaints we see, or our database of ombudsman decisions where they can search for specific decisions we’ve published in relation to their area of interest.

Applying section 40(1) means that an individual asked for a copy of their own personal data under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 rather than under data protection legislation. Whilst we refused these requests in full under the Freedom of Information Act, we did then process their request in line with our data protection obligations, either by processing a subject access request (SAR), or sharing the information informally under the principles of “natural justice”.

Applying section 40(2) means that an individual has asked for a copy of the personal data of a third party under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We can only apply this exemption where the disclosure satisfies one of three conditions. Typically, we apply this exemption as disclosure of third-party data would contravene one or more of the data protection principles as set out in Article 5(1) of UK GDPR, and Section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Applying Section 21 means that an individual has asked for information that is reasonably accessible to them by another route other than the Freedom of Information Act. This could be information that is available on our website. When we apply this exemption, we will always seek to direct the requestor to where they can find the information they have requested, by for example, providing them with a link to where this information is already published on our website.