Siller-Farfan v Information Commissioner & ULAN [2026] UKUT 16 (AAC)
Simon Ridding was instructed as counsel for the appellant in this significant Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) appeal before Upper Tribunal Judge Stout.
The appeal concerned a FOIA request made to the University of Central Lancashire (now University of Lancashire) for correspondence relating to a decision by the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), held on the University's systems by virtue of its Vice-Chancellor sitting on the UCEA board. The University refused the request on the basis that it did not "hold" the information within the meaning of section 3(2)(a) of FOIA.
On behalf of the appellant, it was argued that the correct test requires only an "appropriate" or "rational" connection between the public authority and the information — and that the bar should not be set so high as to require a "sufficient" connection. In support of that argument, reliance was placed on two Scottish Court of Session decisions — The Scottish Ministers v The Scottish Information Commissioner [2023] CSIH 46 and Ian Graham v The Scottish Information Commissioner [2019] CSIH 57 — which had adopted a broader approach, focusing on whether the public authority had "an interest" in the information. It was submitted that the University plainly had such a connection given that its own Vice-Chancellor, using University systems, was involved in UCEA on its behalf.
The Upper Tribunal dismissed the appeal but in doing so provided authoritative clarification on section 3(2)(a). Judge Stout held that the two questions — whether information is "held", and on whose behalf — should be addressed separately, and that the critical focus must be on the nature of the connection between the authority and the information, rather than its sufficiency or rationality. Significantly, the Tribunal expressly doubted the Scottish cases relied upon, rejecting the "interest" test as casting the net of FOIA too wide, and marking a notable divergence in approach across the jurisdictions.
Link to decision: Dr Jesús Antonio Siller Farfán v (1) The Information Commissioner (2) The Governing Body of the University of Central Lancashire: [2026] UKUT 16 (AAC) - GOV.UK