Information Commissioner Statement on EHRC witholding information requested

[IwantToRetire]

The complainant has requested information relating to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) interim guidance following the Supreme Court judgement For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Minister.

The EHRC withheld the requested information, citing section 36 (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA as its basis for doing so.

The Commissioner’s decision is that the EHRC was correct to rely on sections 36(2)(b)(i), (b)(ii) and (c) of FOIA to withhold the requested information.

The Commissioner does not require the EHRC to take any further steps.

https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2025/12/ic-429988-b1r9/

Read full decision notice https://ico.org.uk/media2/titdakro/ic-429988-b1r9.pdf

(More evidence that Baroness Falkner was running the EHRC correctly, despite sneers and smears by the W&EC.)

This is quite significant:

Giving due consideration to the emotive subject matter and wide ranging implications of the judgement in this case, the Commissioner is satisfied that disclosure of the requested information would be likely to provoke further polarised reactions. Having regard for the extreme nature of some of those reactions, such as threatening communications and vandalism at EHRC offices, the Commissioner is further satisfied that the EHRC is correct that the free and frank provision of advice, and the free and frank exchange of views for the purpose of deliberation would likely be inhibited. Whilst it is correct that officials should not to be easily deterred from expressing their views by the possibility of future disclosure, it is reasonable to understand in this case why they would likely be fearful of expressing their views so candidly.

In other words, the TRA actions and threats against the EHRC are a prime reason why it is not in the public interest to reveal the requested information (that the TRA's want). Hoist by their own petard, so to speak.

Agree this is significant. S36 is a slightly unusual exemption and can only be used in a very limited type of circumstances.

More sunlight.
The evidence is stacking up daily that this is a belief that's being enforced on an uconsenting public via threats, intimidation, actual violence and vandalism perpetuated by dangerous people.

Good to see it acknowledged in writing by the Information Commissioner.

And yet the Labour Party continues to imply directly or by infering that everyone else is wonderful and the only group creating a problem is the EHRC.

You would have thought the Government would at the very least said civil servants have a right to do their job without being threatened or intimidated.

Thanks OP a very interesting post and feedback from the Information Commissioners is quite revealing. I hope this gets picked up more widely.

Even Pink News reported who vandalised the EHRC.

A protest group has vandalised the headquarters of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in response to the human rights watchdog’s controversial interim guidance on single-sex spaces.
BASH BACK, which has taken responsibility for the vandalism, describes itself as a “trans-led direct action project focused on total transgender liberation”.

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/10/31/bash-back-ehrc-vandalism-trans-london/