South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

The complainant requested information about recruitment for the post of Head of Live Service. South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) originally applied section 22 of FOIA (information intended for future publication) to withhold the information but reconsidered its position during its internal review. The complainant referred the case to the Commissioner and explained that they believed the application of the exemption was incorrect. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Trust was entitled to rely on section 22(1) of FOIA to withhold the information. The Trust did however breach section 10(1) and 1(1)(a) of FOIA as it failed to respond to the request within the statutory timeframe. The Commissioner does not require further steps.