Llanbedr Bypass

21 March 2022

Dear

Request for Information – ATISN 16048

I wrote to you on 4 February regarding your request for information regarding the cancellation of Llanbedr Bypass. I apologise for the delay in responding to you.

Information requested

You have asked for the following information listed in Appendix 1 of the Road Review Panel's review of the Llanbedr bypass:

• 2021: (June) Llanbedr Roads Review Pro Forma

• 2021: (August) Short paper on Llanbedr Airfield and Space Plans Welsh Government

• 2021: (July) WEFO paper: Roads Review potential implications of delaying EU funded schemes

• 2021: (September) Llanbedr Access Improvements: Paper prepared by Arcadis for the Roads Review

Our Response

I can confirm that the Welsh Government holds information captured by your request, however some of the information is being withheld under Regulation 12(4)(e) – internal communications, and Regulation 13, personal data, of the Environmental Information Regulations 2000. Full reasoning for withholding this information is appended at Annex A.

We are releasing the following documents to you:

1. 2021: (June) Llanbedr Roads Review Pro Forma

Please note that this pro forma document was completed by the scheme Sponsor prior to the establishment of the Roads Review Panel, with notes of their views of the proposals against criteria it was anticipated the review Panel would consider.  It is not a document prepared by the Roads Review Panel themselves.

2. 2021: (August) Short paper on Llanbedr Airfield and Space Plans Welsh Government

Please note that three lines contained within this document have been withheld under Regulation 12(4)(e) – internal communications, of the Environmental Information Regulations 2000.

The name of the co-author of the ‘Short Paper on Llanbedr Airfield and Space Plans’ amounts to personal data and has therefore been withheld under Regulation 13, personal data. Full reasoning for withholding this information is appended at Annex A.

3. 2021: (July) WEFO paper: Roads Review potential implications of delaying EU funded schemes

Please note that as we have interpreted your request as specifically asking for information relating to Llanbedr Bypass, some of the information contained in this document is unrelated. It has therefore been redacted as it is not captured by your request.

4. 2021: (September) Llanbedr Access Improvements: Paper prepared by Arcadis for the Roads Review

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response.  Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at: Information Rights Unit, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ or Email: Freedomofinformation@gov.wales.  Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.   

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:  Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.  However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.

Yours sincerely

 

 

Annex A

Regulation 12(4)(e) – internal communications

Regulation 12(4)(e) states that a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the extent that—

(e) the request involves the disclosure of internal communications.

Guidance from the Information Commissioner has confirmed that this exception is drafted broadly and is a class based exception which covers all internal communications, not just those that are sensitive or actually reflect internal thinking.  The concept of ‘internal communications’ covers a wide range of information and includes any information intended to be communicated to others or saved in a file where it may be consulted by others.  I can confirm that the information held by the Welsh Government which is captured by your request amounts to internal communications.

Regulation 12(4)(e) is a qualified (public interest tested) exception.  Even if the exception is engaged, public authorities must go on to apply the public interest test set out in regulation 12(1)(b). A public authority can only withhold the information if the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.  Because of this, consideration has been given to the effects of disclosure to the world at large rather than any personal interest you may have in being provided with the information.

Public interest in favour of release

The Welsh Government believes there is a strong public interest in the openness and transparency of decision making and of understanding the context of the decision making progress to ensure democratic accountability and due public scrutiny.

Public interest in favour of withholding

The three lines of internal advice do not relate to the decision making process itself but to an internal discussion of approach, particularly at a time when the review is incomplete, and that disclosure of the internal advice will jeopardise the process of the formulation of the policy, and also distract from the information being supplied on which basis the decision is being made. Release of the advice would be likely to derail or delay the decision making process, without placing new information in the public domain that would add to the understanding of the evidence itself. This would not be in the public interest.

Balance of the public interest

As all evidence we hold that has been considered is being supplied, Welsh Government believes that we have satisfied the public interest in openness and transparency and that the three lines of internal discussion do not add to this evidence. We therefore do not believe there is a sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure that would outweigh the harms identified and so the information is being withheld.

Regulation 13 - Personal Data

Regulation 13 of the EIRs sets out an exception from the right to know if the information requested is personal information protected by  the General  Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).  Personal data is defined in the GDPR as:

“any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person”

We have concluded that, in this instance, the name of the co-author of the ‘Short Paper on Llanbedr Airfield and Space Plans’ amounts to personal data. Under Regulation 13 of the EIRs, personal data is exempt from release if disclosure would breach one of the data protection principles set out in Article 5 of the GDPR.  We consider the principle being most relevant in this instance as being the first. This states that personal data must be:

“processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject”

Guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (Personal information (section 40 and regulation 13) v 1.3) states (at p11):

• The starting point is to consider whether it would be fair to the data subject to disclose their personal data. The key considerations in assessing this are set out in the section on Fairness below.
• If disclosure would not be fair, then the information is exempt from disclosure.

This approach was endorsed by the Court of Appeal in the case of Deborah Clark v the Information Commissioner and East Hertfordshire District Council where it was held:

“The first data protection principle entails a consideration of whether it would be fair to disclose the personal data in all the circumstances. The Commissioner determined that it would not be fair to disclose the requested information and thus the first data protection principle would be breached. There was no need in the present case therefore to consider whether any other Schedule 2 condition or conditions could be met because even if such conditions could be established, it would still not be possible to disclose the personal data without breaching the DPA” (paragraph 63).

In this instance, the personal data included in the ‘Short Paper on Llanbedr Airfield and Space Plans’ has been redacted. The personal information contained in this paper amounts to the personal data of a junior Welsh Government official who does not have an openly public facing role and would not expect their name to be released in this context. We believe that they would have no expectation that this information would be made public. Thus, we believe release of this information would be unfair and so breach the first data protection principle.

For that reason, the information is being withheld under Regulation 13 of the EIRs. This is an absolute exemption and not subject to the public interest test.