Name of supplier and service provided in claim for professional services by Ben Wallace MP

IPSA holds the information that you request 

As you may be aware, Section 40 (personal data) of the FOIA provides an exemption to the release of personal data under certain circumstances.  When a request is received for the personal data of an individual, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance states that public authorities should consider the following when assessing whether disclosure of the information is fair:

• whether the information is sensitive personal data;

• the possible consequences of disclosure on the individual(s) concerned;

• the reasonable expectations of the individual, taking into account: their expectations both at the time the information was collected and at the time of the request; the nature of the information itself; the circumstances in which the information was obtained; whether the information has been or remains in the public domain; the FOIA principles of transparency and accountability; and

• any legitimate interests in the public having access to the information and the balance between these and the rights and freedoms of the data subjects.

In order for us to consider whether the information you requested should be disclosed, we provided the supplier with an opportunity to make representations to IPSA if they felt that the information should not be disclosed, addressing any of the relevant considerations above.  We have received such a representation, which we have carefully considered.  We have concluded that the evidence provided is sufficient to engage the exemption and that the application of the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  Therefore, we are withholding the information relating to the first part of your request.

Section 40(2) provides that personal data about third parties is exempt information if one of the conditions set out in section 40(3) is satisfied. Under the FOI Act disclosure of this information would breach the fair processing principle (Principle 1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), where it would be unfair to those persons or is confidential. For further information, you may wish to visit the UK Legislation website.

In relation to the second part of your request, the service provided is already published on our publication website.  However, for ease, this is as follows: “Analysis of Syrian chemical weapons capability”.