FOIA Section 36 applies to information held by the Council and provides a qualified exemption if disclosure would or would be likely to inhibit the free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views or otherwise prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.
The Council's "qualified person" is required to give their reasonable opinion that disclosure would cause the type of prejudice or inhibition described above.
The Council's qualified person is appointed by the government and is:
The Chief Executive; and
The Monitoring Officer.
The responsibilities of the qualified person may only be carried out by the Chief Executive and the Monitoring Officer, or where the post of Chief Executive or Monitoring Officer is vacant, a person appointed to 'act'.