The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust

The complainant requested “all information” relating to the consideration and rejection of alternative sites for the rebuild of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Norfolk. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) provided a Powerpoint presentation, and ultimately relied on FOIA sections 22 (information intended for future publication), 36 (the effective conduct of public affairs) and 43 (commercial interests) to withhold the remaining information in scope. Given the subject matter, the Commissioner asked the Trust to consider whether the request should instead have been handled under the EIR. The Trust maintained that FOIA was the correct regime, but said it would seek to rely on Regulation 12(5)(e) of the EIR (the confidentiality of commercial or industrial information) if the request was deemed to fall under that regime. However, the Trust did not formally cite this exception and did not notify the complainant. The Commissioner’s decision is that the requested information is environmental for the reasons set out in this notice and, therefore, the EIR is the correct regime. He finds that by failing to carry out an internal review within 40 working days, the Trust breached Regulation 11(4) of the EIR. The Commissioner requires the Trust to issue a fresh response under the EIR, which should include locating and identifying the definitive information in scope of the request, within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice.