First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber)

FT/EA/2024/0195 - [2025] UKFTT 01263 (GRC)

Fecha: 24-Oct-2025

Utilities Act 2000

Utilities Act 2000

56.

The relevant provisions within the UA 2000 are:

105.— General restrictions on disclosure of information.

(1)

Information which–

(a)

has been obtained under or by virtue of the provisions of this Act, Part I of the 1986 Act Part 1 of the 1989 Act ….; and

(b)

relates to the affairs of any individual or to any particular business,

shall not be disclosed during the lifetime of the individual or so long as the business continues to be carried on, except as provided below.

(2)

Subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure made with the consent of the individual or the person for the time being carrying on the business.

(3)

Subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure if– (a) it is made for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions of the Secretary of State, the [Authority]… under the 1986 Act, the 1989 Act … or this Act.

Schedule 1 - Supplementary powers

11(1) The Authority has power to do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the performance of its functions.

Role of the Tribunal

57.

The role of the Tribunal is governed by section 58 FOIA. This requires the Tribunal to consider whether the Commissioner’s Decision Notice is in accordance with the law, or, where the Commissioner’s decision involved an exercise of discretion, whether he should have exercised it differently. The Tribunal may review any finding of fact on which the Decision Notice was based (section 58(2)). This means that we may review all the evidence provided to us (even if that evidence was not before the Commissioner) and make our own decision on the merits.

58.

As set out in NHS England -v- Information Commissioner and Dean [2019] UKUT 145 (ACC) "The First-tier Tribunal ‘exercises a full merits appellate jurisdiction and so stands in the shoes of the IC and decides which (if any) exemptions apply..."

59.

In Peter Wilson -v- The Information Commissioner [2022] UKFTT 0149 it was held that:- “30...the Tribunal’s statutory role is to consider whether there is an error of law or inappropriate exercise of discretion in the Decision Notice. The Tribunal may not allow an appeal simply because it disagrees with the Information Commissioner’s Decision. It is also not the Tribunal’s role to conduct a procedural review of the Information Commissioner’s decision-making process or to correct the drafting of the Decision Notice.”