Information will be exempt if it is otherwise reasonably accessible to the applicant. Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though it is accessible only on payment.

This category includes information which an authority is obliged by virtue of statute to communicate (other than by way of inspection) to members of the public on request (e.g. under the Local Land Charges Act).

The category includes information available under the Publication Scheme.

There is no exemption from the duty to confirm or deny that the council holds such information.

This exemption applies if the information was directly or indirectly supplied to the council by or relates to, any of the following:

• the Security Service,
• the Secret Intelligence Service,
• Government CommunicationsHeadquarters (GCHQ),
• the special forces,
• tribunals established under:
  
  
  • S65 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000,
  • S7 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985,
  • S5 of the Security Service Act 1989,
  • S9 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994,
• the Security Vetting Appeals Panel,
• the Security Commission,
• the National Criminal Intelligence Service,
• the Service Authority for the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

A certificate signed by a Minister of the Crown who is a member of the Cabinet, the Attorney General, the Advocate General for Scotland or the Attorney General for Northern Ireland certifying that the information was supplied by or relates to one of such bodies is conclusive evidence of that fact.

The Information Commissioner or any applicant affected by a certificate given under this section may appeal to the Information Tribunal.

There is no duty to confirm or deny the disclosure of any information supplied to the council by or relating to any of the above bodies.

Information is exempt under this category if held by the council only by virtue of being contained in a document:

• filed with a court for the purpose of proceedings in a particular matter;
• served on the council for the purpose of proceedings in a particular matter;
• created by the court for the purpose of proceedings in a particular matter;
• placed in the custody of a person conducting an enquiry or arbitration, for the purposes of that enquiry or arbitration or
• created by a person conducting an enquiry or arbitration, for the purposes of that enquiry or arbitration.

The information is only exempt if the court record is the only manner in which the council holds the information.

The duty to confirm or deny does not apply in relation to information that would be exempt under this section.

Information is exempt if disclosure would infringe the privileges of either House of Parliament. A certificate signed by the Speaker of the House or the Clerk of the Parliaments certifying that exemption is necessary to prevent such infringement is conclusive evidence of that fact.

The duty to confirm or deny does not apply to the extent that compliance would involve an infringement of the privileges of either House of Parliament.

This exemption is absolute only if the information relates to either of the Houses of Parliament. A certificate signed by the Speaker of the House or the Clerk of the Parliaments certifying that, in his reasonable opinion, disclosure of the information would prejudice:

• the maintenance of the convention of collective responsibility of Ministers of the Crown;
• the work of the Executive Committee of the NI Assembly or
• the work of the executive committee of the National Assembly for Wales or
• would be likely to inhibit:
  
  
  • the free and frank provision of advice or
  • the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation or
  • would otherwise prejudice or be likely to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs

is conclusive evidence of that fact.

The duty to confirm or deny does not arise in relation to information that would be exempt under this section.

This exemption applies to personal data covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. Personal data is information about a living individual from which that individual can be identified.

If the personal data is about the person requesting the information, there is an absolute exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the request falls to be dealt with under the Data Protection Act 1998. There is also an absolute exemption under the FOIA 2000 if the disclosure of personal data to a third party would contravene any of the data protection principles. Appendix five gives further information about the Data Protection Act 1998.

Information is exempt if it was:

• obtained by the council from another person (including another authority) - i.e. not generated internally - and
• the disclosure of the information would result in an actionable breach of confidence.

An actionable breach of contract will occur where a third party could take the council to court if the council disclosed the information. Only very few breaches of confidence will be actionable. A disclosure of information will not be an actionable breach of confidence merely because it was contained in a document marked “confidential”.

To assess whether disclosure of the information would be an actionable breach of confidence, the circumstances under which the information was provided and the nature of the information need to be considered.

The breach may be actionable if the circumstances under which the information was provided include:

• a contract in which there is an express confidentiality provision,
• a letter setting out confidentiality conditions,
• circumstances where confidentiality would be implied (e.g. between a client and a social worker) even though there are no express provisions for confidentiality.

The nature of the information:

• need not be highly sensitive but it must not be trivial,
• must not be readily available by other means.

In addition, a breach of confidence will not be actionable if:

• the person to whom the obligation of confidentiality is owed consents to disclosure;
• the disclosure is required by law;
• there is an overriding public interest in disclosure (the courts have set this standard high – disclosure in the public interest cases have involved misconduct, illegality or gross immorality). Thus although the exemption is absolute, there is a public interest test built in to the issue of whether there is an actionable breach of confidence;
• the aggrieved party does not have the legal standing to take action (e.g. one government department cannot sue another).

A council also needs to consider whether, even though information was initially provided in confidence, the duty of confidence still exists at the date of the request for disclosure.

The duty to confirm or deny does not arise where compliance would constitute an actionable breach of confidence.

Information is exempt if its disclosure is:

• prohibited by another enactment,
• incompatible with any community obligation or
• would constitute or be punishable as a contempt of court.

The duty to confirm or deny does not arise where compliance would breach any of the above provisions.

Many current statutory bars to disclosure of obligations were due to be repealed under s75 of the FOIA 2000.