The central question that public bodies need to ask in relation to any request that falls within one of the qualified exemptions is:

"Does the Public Interest in withholding the information outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information?"

Government guidance says:

"The starting point whenever considering the balance of the public interest is that there is a general public interest in disclosure. In contrast, there is no general public interest in public authorities withholding information."
Lord Falconer, Secretary of State is quoted as saying in the House of Lords on 14 November 2000 (Lords Hansard, col. 143)

'information must be disclosed except where there is an overriding public interest in keeping specific information confidential'

The guidance goes onto say:

"When considering a request for information that falls under one of the qualified exemptions, officials must weigh the public interest considerations in favour of releasing the information, and the public interest considerations in favour of not disclosing the information.

•	If the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure, the applicant does not have a right of access to this information under the FOI Act
•	If the arguments are evenly balanced, then the outcome must be disclosure. The assessment of the public interest is a Judgment in which policy and legal interpretations are both involved to some degree: it is an inherently dynamic concept. The law and practice of the public interest test will develop by decisions made within Government and by the Information Commissioner and the courts.
•	The 'public interest' is not a fixed concept, the balance is likely to change over time:The balance of public interest may shift as information becomes older. To disclose a piece of information before or shortly after a policy decision is made may, for example, within the terms of section 35, prejudice the formulation of government policy. But this will not remain the case indefinitely.

The HSC Guidance talks about release taking place unless:

"the public interest test demonstrably comes down against disclosure in a particular case ...." (emphasis added)

HSC Guidance goes onto say:

"It is not, however, sufficient simply to assert a public interest in non-disclosure: its relevance to the circumstances of an individual request, and an assessment of the balance which has been carried out must be properly analysed, supported and recorded on the file."

It should be noted that applicants can challenge a public authorities determination of where the balance of the public interest falls in respect of their information request. Applicants will be able to ask public authorities to conduct an internal review in the first instance but if the information is still withheld, they can subsequently ask the Information Commissioner to review the decision to withhold information. Ultimately, this balance of the public interest could also become a matter for the courts.

To read about HSE's internal review process
To read about the Information Commissioner.