Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) non-disclosure and (b) other confidentiality agreements relating to (i) employment, (ii) bullying, (iii) misconduct and (iii) harassment cases have been agreed by their Department in each year since 1 January 2010; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on (A) legal costs and (B) financial settlements for such agreements in each year since 1 January 2010.

Where the number of complaints is fewer than five, we consider that to provide an exact category and figure, would constitute the disclosure of personal data. To this end, we are also withholding the financial value of the agreement. This would constitute an absolute exemption for personal data which falls to be dealt with under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.  Personal data of third parties can only be disclosed in accordance with the data protection principles. In particular, the first data protection principle requires that disclosure must be lawful and fair and must comply with one of the conditions in Article 6 of the GDPR.  We do not think that it is fair to release this information and do not think that any of the relevant conditions apply.