E A Lee v Information Commissioner & Anor

Facts

The appellant, E A Lee, sought statistical information from the Department for Health and Social Care about suicides among patients of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which ran the Gender Identity Development Service and offered puberty blockers to some patients under 18. In December 2020 the High Court held in Bell v The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust [2020] EWHC 3274 that children under 16 could not give informed consent to such treatment; the Trust stopped referring patients for puberty blockers, and although the Court of Appeal reversed that decision in September 2021 the Trust did not restart referrals. Prescribing was banned in 2024. After allegations about suicide rates, the Government asked Professor Louis Appleby to review the data; his report of 19 July 2024 gave figures for six NHS years, three before and three after 2020/21, showing essentially no difference. On the same day the appellant asked the Department to break the figures down instead by reference to April 2020. The Department first said the information was not held, then on internal review claimed exemption under section 38(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Commissioner's decision notice of 24 April 2025 upheld the exemption and the public interest balance, and the appellant appealed.