Cabinet Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office for information about the awarding of an OBE to Stuart Hall. The Cabinet Office withheld the information on the basis of sections 37(1)(b) (honours) and 40(2) (personal data) with some of the information also being withheld on the basis of section 41(1) (information provided in confidence) of FOIA. The Commissioner has concluded that section 37 is engaged and that in relation to the majority of the withheld information the public interest favours maintaining the exemption. However, the Commissioner has concluded that the public interest favours disclosing the long citation. The Commissioner also found that the long citation is not exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 40(2). The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to provide the complainant with a copy of the long citation.