Victory in information test case

The court ruled Mr Dunion was right to require release of the data

Information commissioner Kevin Dunion has won a legal battle over the release of data relating to childhood leukaemia cases in Dumfries and Galloway.

Appeal judges ruled in his favour after he required the details be revealed under Freedom of Information laws.

The Common Services Agency (CSA), which provides such statistics, had raised concern about releasing personal data.

Judges at the Court of Session rejected its appeal, saying the risk of identification had been minimised.

The Lord President, Lord Hamilton, ruled that disclosure of the data in such a way did not infringe the rights to privacy of the individual children.

The focus has, in my view, moved away from the individual children to the incidence of disease in particular wards in particular years Lord Hamilton

Another judge, Lord Marnoch, said: "I am of opinion that the statute, whose whole purpose is to secure the release of information, should be construed in as liberal a manner as possible."

The test case arose because a Green Party worker sought the material to look at the effect of radioactive waste from the Sellafield plant.

Several others cases are waiting to be heard in court as the recent Freedom of Information law comes under scrutiny.

An application was made to the CSA, which provides a statistical service to the National Health Service.

It was asked for the number of children aged under 14 who had leukaemia in Dumfries and Galloway between 1990 and 2003, giving the information by census ward.

The CSA revealed that there had been 15 cases in the region between 1990 and 2001.

Today's judgement is important, not so much for the particular information which will now be made available, but for the principle which has been established Chris Ballance MSP

It was concerned that providing greater detail could lead to a significant risk that living individuals could be identified.

Mr Dunion was asked to make a ruling and called for the release of the census ward data in a "barnardised" form.

That process aims to avoid the risk of identification where numbers are small but can still provide useful information.

Valerie Stacey QC, for the CSA, argued that the process of barnardisation created something new, but maintained that it was still personal data.

Lord Hamilton disagreed, saying the information would be "perturbed" to minimise the risk of individual children being identified.

"The focus has, in my view, moved away from the individual children to the incidence of disease in particular wards in particular years," he said.

'Common sense'

South of Scotland Green MSP Chris Ballance welcomed the decision as a "victory for common sense and democracy".

"Today's judgement is important, not so much for the particular information which will now be made available, but for the principle which has been established," he said.

"Many communities have concerns over possible environmental health hazards.

"Now they can legitimately, and without hindrance, seek detailed health related statistics which will help them in understanding if their concerns may have some basis in fact."