Personal Interest Test (PIT)

The Supreme Court issued a judgement on 23 July 2025 which decided that where more than one exemption subject to the public interest test applies to an item of information, the public interest factors for and against disclosure of the information can be considered cumulatively.

The exemptions in Part II of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are “absolute” or “qualified”. If an absolute exemption applies, you do not have to release the information. If the exemption is qualified, you must weigh the public interest in maintaining the exemption against the public interest in disclosure. This is the public interest test.

You can only withhold the information if the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

The public interest here means the public good; it is not:

what is of interest to the public; or
the private interests of the requester (unless those private interests reflect what is the general public good, eg holding public authorities to account).

Public interest arguments for maintaining the exemption must relate specifically to that exemption. For example, where the exemption is about prejudice to a particular interest, there is an inherent public interest in avoiding that prejudice. However, there is not necessarily an inherent public interest where the exemption protects a particular class of information.

There will always be a general public interest in transparency. There may also be a public interest in transparency about the issue the information relates to. You should consider any public interests that would be served by disclosing the information.

If there is a plausible suspicion of wrongdoing, this may create a public interest in disclosure. And even where this is not the case, there is a public interest in releasing information to provide a full picture.

Arguments based on the requester’s identity or motives are generally irrelevant. Arguments that the information may be misunderstood if it were released usually carry little weight.

The fact that other methods of scrutiny are available does not weaken the public interest in disclosure. Where other means of scrutiny have been used, apart from FOIA, this may, however, weaken the public interest in disclosure.

There is a public interest in promoting transparency about the UK government and public authorities, although requesters do not have to be UK nationals or residents.

You must consider the relative weight of the arguments for and against disclosure. This can be affected by:

the likelihood and severity of any prejudice,
the age of the information,
how far the requested information will help public understanding, and
whether similar information is already in the public domain.

Where a qualified exemption applies and you do not wish to confirm nor deny that you hold the requested information, the decision to give a “neither confirm nor deny” response is itself subject to the public interest test.

You must consider the balance of public interest in all the circumstances of the request.