Biggleswade Town Council to be investigated concerning an alleged breach of Section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act

My last blog on this subject was on 29th July 2014.

http://biggleswadeonline.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/biggleswade-town-council-have-yet-to.html

23rd July 2014 - The Information Commissioner’s Office advised me that the Commissioner’s Investigation Team wanted answers to further queries to establish the facts in relation to the timing of the removal and/or destruction of the information.  They had written to the council in this regard and it has until 30 July to respond. They apologised that process is taking so long but, giving the potential seriousness of the matter, they have to ensure they follow the correct procedure.

11th August 2014 - The Information Commissioner’s Office advised me that the Council had responded to their questions by 30th July 2014 and it was now being looked at again by the Commissioner’s Investigations Team to see whether there is any merit in pursuing a section 77 investigation. The threshold for demonstrating that an offence under section 77 of the FOIA has been committed is quite high and requires evidence that information has been erased or concealed with the intention of preventing disclosure.  By way of context, since the FOIA came into force some 10 years ago, no proceedings for a section 77 offence have been brought by the Commissioner.

15^th August 2014 - The Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed that the Investigations Team will be pursuing this matter further and I will shortly be contacted in this regard by an Investigating Officer.

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Section 77 - Offence of altering etc. records with intent to prevent disclosure.

(1) Where -

(a) a request for information has been made to a public authority, and

(b) under section 1 of this Act or section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, the applicant would have been entitled (subject to the payment of any fee) to communication of any information in accordance with that section, any person to whom this subsection applies is guilty of an offence if he alters, defaces, blocks, erases, destroys or conceals any record held by the public authority, with the intention of preventing the disclosure by that authority of all, or any part, of the information to the communication of which the applicant would have been entitled.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to the public authority and to any person who is employed by, is an officer of, or is subject to the direction of, the public authority.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(4) No proceedings for an offence under this section shall be instituted -

(a) in England or Wales, except by the Commissioner or by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions;

(b) in Northern Ireland, except by the Commissioner or by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.