Panel of Chairs (2021)
Request
Please disclose an electronic copy of all recorded information you hold regarding the process for the selection of members of the Panel of Chairs.
Response
Information regarding the process for the selection of members of the Panel of Chairs is held by the House of Commons. This takes the form of:
• Internal notes entitled ‘Appointment to and discharge from to the Panel’
• Information on the website about the Panel of Chairs, which covers the topic of selection of Members
• Correspondence between Members of Parliament and House of Commons staff about candidates and selection
Some information that forms part of these notes has been withheld. The second of the two footnotes refers to information that relates to proceedings of the House, and the information is therefore subject to parliamentary privilege. One of these privileges is to decide whether and when privileged information should be published or otherwise disclosed. Section 34(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides an exemption for information so far as it is required to avoid infringement of any parliamentary privilege. Therefore, in order to prevent an infringement of these privileges, the information is exempt from disclosure. This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.
The information on the website about the Panel of Chairs is exempt from disclosure in accordance with section 21(1) and (2)(a) of the FOIA, which removes a public authority from the obligation to provide access to information which is already in the public domain. This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.
However, it may help you to know that information relevant to your request can be found at:
• Erskine May
• Parliamentary glossary pages
• Parliamentary Committee pages
The correspondence between Members of Parliament and House of Commons staff about candidates and selection relates to proceedings of the House, and is therefore also subject to parliamentary privilege. In order to prevent an infringement of these privileges, this information is also exempt from disclosure under Section 34(1) of the FOIA. This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.