Ministry of Justice

The complainant has requested from the Home Office the full contents of four historic files dating from the 1990s and dealing with aspects of Labour Party policy, open government and access to environmental information. After a long delay, the Home Office disclosed most of the information requested but withheld some relying on several FOIA exemptions. The complainant challenged the application of two of those exemptions. The Commissioner decided that in withholding the disputed information, the Home Office had correctly relied on the FOIA exemptions at section 35(1)(b) (Ministerial communications) and section 42(1) (legal professional privilege). The Commissioner did not require the Home Office to take any steps to comply with the legislation.