A case by case basis...
FOI requires that each application that the Commissioner receives must be considered on a case by case basis, with a decision only being reached following the careful consideration of the specific circumstances surrounding each request. One 2009 case saw the Commissioner arrive at different conclusions when considering the same request, made to different public authorities.
The Commissioner was asked to investigate the refusal by six police forces to release details of the payments made to confidential informants. The applicant sought annual totals from each force.
The Commissioner found that, for the smaller force areas, any extraordinary payment would be difficult to mask, with the possibility that it could then be linked to a subsequent police action, such as an arrest. This could then allow inferences to be drawn about informant activity in that area. As a result, he accepted that the information requested in relation to the four smaller forces was exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act's 'law enforcement' exemption. He also concluded, however, that equivalent information about the two larger forces could be released, for the reason that the scale of each force's activity was large enough to ensure that any extraordinary payments would be effectively masked.
