Scotland Office

The complainant has requested access to a file held by the National Records of Scotland which contained records from the Scottish Office concerning discussions about the devolution of powers over abortion and other sensitive medical matters. The Scotland Office, which is the public authority under FOIA for the purposes of this request, withheld the requested information on the basis of sections 35(1)(a) (formulation and development of government policy) and 35(1)(b) (ministerial communications). The Commissioner has concluded that the withheld information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 35(1)(a) and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.