SCHEDULE 12A ACCESS TO INFORMATION: EXEMPT INFORMATION
10 Information which—
(a) falls within any of paragraphs 1 to 7 above; and
(b) is not prevented from being exempt by virtue of paragraph 8 or 9 above,
is exempt information if and so long, as in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Paragraph 10 requires the public interest in maintaining exemption to outweigh the public interest in disclosure. The court held that the officer had plainly struck that balance by protecting the confidentiality of commercially sensitive viability information. (see paras [62]; [122]; [126]-[127])
The court held that paragraph 10’s public-interest balance was informed by the Framework and PPG. Their transparency requirements supported disclosure, so viability material could not be withheld merely because it was commercially sensitive absent exceptional circumstances (see paras [64]-[65]).
Confirms that no formal recorded decision was necessary where the authority’s treatment of the documents showed that it considered the public interest in maintaining the exemption to outweigh disclosure. The provision did not invalidate reliance on the exemption (see para [79]).
What each judgment says about Schedule 12A, paragraph 10 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.