In fact, you can see the full judgment hosted on the HSJ website here.
These paragraphs are particularly noteworthy.
From the evidence it is clear that the NHS reforms were introduced in an exceptional way. There was no indication prior to the White Paper that such wide- ranging reforms were being considered. The White Paper was published without prior consultation. It was published within a very short period after the Coalition Government came into power. It was unexpected. Consultation took place afterwards over what appears to us a very short period considering the extent of the proposed reforms. The consultation hardly changed policy but dealt largely with implementation. Even more significantly the Government decided to press ahead with some of the policies even before laying a Bill before Parliament. The whole process had to be paused because of the general alarm at what was happening.
This is a difficult case. The public interest factors for and against disclosure are particularly strong. The timing of the request is very important. We find the weight we give to the need for transparency and accountability in the circumstances of this case to be very weighty indeed. We find that at the time the TRR was requested and the DOH dealt with the application of the public interest test, the public interest in maintaining the s.35(1)(a) exemption did not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.
In contrast we find that at the time the SRR was requested and the DOH dealt with the application of the public interest test, the public interest in maintaining the exemption did outweigh the public interest in disclosure.
[SRR = Strategic Risk Register.]
Some would say that there are very serious questions for a political party purporting to be espousing liberal values to have allowed the tribunal to be forced to make such a judgment.
