General Dental Council

The complainant has requested details about complaints relating to a particular surgery. The above public authority stated that it did not hold some of the requested information and relied on section 40(5B) of FOIA (third party personal information) to refuse to confirm or deny whether it held the remainder. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority is not entitled to rely on section 40(5B) of FOIA in the manner that it has. He is satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, the public authority does not hold some of the requested information. The public authority breached section 10 of FOIA as it failed to provide its response within 20 working days. The public authority did not breach section 16 of FOIA. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: confirm or deny whether it holds any complaints about the staff of the practice specified in the request. If any information is held, the public authority must either disclose it or issue an appropriate refusal notice.