💥 Foundation welcomes landmark ruling by Information Commissioner. We are delighted to announce that the Information Commissioner’s Office has ruled in our favour on a landmark information case. 🧵
This ruling forces Worcestershire County Council to release the cost of carrying out the Safeguarding Review into homeless deaths between 2016 - 2019, under Freedom of Information law - something it fought for nearly a year to stop.
Worcestershire County Council relied on Section 3(2) of the Freedom of Information Act to exempt the local Adult Safeguarding Board from FOI requests, however the Commissioner has ruled that this is not permissible.
This ruling is also a significant step to ensuring greater transparency between Local Authorities and the public, especially around the issue of homelessness.
It is unprecedented and has enormous repercussions. The Foundation will now use this precedent to ensure no other Council/Safeguarding Board can hide behind Freedom of Information exemptions to hide the cost of other Safeguarding Reviews.
- The full decision of the Information Commissioner on this case can be found here: drive.google.com/file/d/10-NJbn…
- @CardonBFdn's full policy response can be found here: docs.google.com/document/d/13h…