27th January 2026

A formal Freedom of Information (FOI) request has been submitted to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) seeking clarity over how potential conflicts of interest are identified and managed when senior ICO staff hold, or are proposed to hold, senior roles in other public authorities.

The request, sent by Alan M Dransfield to Philip Marsh at the ICO, focuses on the organisation’s governance controls, particularly in relation to conflicts of interest and dual roles involving senior personnel and Stockport Council.

At the centre of the request is whether the ICO has appropriate policies, procedures, and recorded mitigations in place where overlapping senior responsibilities could give rise to real or perceived conflicts of interest. The request stresses that it does not seek personal data beyond what is already publicly available, and that redactions would be acceptable where necessary.

The FOI request asks for copies of the ICO’s current and historical:

  • conflict of interest policies for staff, including senior staff,
  • rules on outside interests, secondary employment, or external appointments,
  • procedures for declaring, assessing, approving, and mitigating conflicts, and
  • any policies on information barriers or segregation of duties.

In addition, it seeks blank templates or anonymised examples of declaration-of-interest forms and mitigation records, as well as any internal guidance provided to managers on how such conflicts should be handled and approved.

A key element of the request asks whether the ICO holds any recorded information showing what steps were taken to identify and mitigate potential conflicts connected with Alex Goantis and Stockport Council, such as redacted declaration forms, recusal decisions, information-barrier arrangements, or governance notes. If such information cannot be disclosed, the requester asks the ICO to explain which legal exemptions apply and whether confirmation of the existence of records can still be provided.

The request explicitly states that if any of the information is not held, this should be confirmed in line with section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Governance experts note that transparency around conflicts of interest is particularly important for the ICO, which is responsible for regulating data protection, freedom of information, and public-sector accountability across the UK.

The ICO is required to respond within the statutory time limit set by FOI law. At the time of writing, no response has yet been published.

The Gazette has approached the ICO for comment.