Freedom of Information requests
I would like the following information about people who have died in Lambeth and who had a Public Health Funeral: names, dates of death, age or date of birth, place of birth, marital status, usual address at the time of death and value of estate, if any.
This information is exempt under Section 41(1) (b) – information provided in confidence and Section 31(1) (a) – law enforcement, of the Freedom of Information Act.
Section 41(1) (b). This exemption covers situations where the information was obtained by Lambeth from another person and its disclosure to the public would constitute a breach of confidence.
Guidance on this exception and our opinion is that the exemption will continue to apply after the death of a person concerned. This has been confirmed by case law “Pauline Buck v Information Commissioner and Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust”. Although a personal representative may not be known at a later date he duty would still be legally enforceable by the deceased’s personal representative (The person or people who administer the deceased’s estate under the law relating to will’s and probate. The relevant person does not need to be identified. The important issue is to establish in principle that a persona representative might exist, who can take action against the council releasing the information. This is an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to the public interest test.
Section 31(1) (a) is a qualified exemption and therefore subject to the Public Interest Test.
Section 31(1)(a) provides an exemption where prejudice could be caused to other investigations and to general steps taken in relation to law enforcement in that disclosure of this information would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime by enabling or encouraging the commission of offences, for instance fraud.
In applying this exemption we have to balance the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure. The Council has concluded that the public interest test favours non-disclosure because although disclosure of this information could ultimately lead to the next of kin becoming aware of a deceased person and promote general openness of information by crime although disclosure of personal information such as names, dates of birth and last known address. Releasing this information could lead to identity theft and /or fraud or alternatively, through releasing the last known property address which is quite likely to be empty, could ultimately lead to crime such as burglary and squatting.
Therefore in conclusion, we are of the opinion that the balance of public interest favours non-disclosure of this information in all circumstances of the case.