Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Date 28 March 2019
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.4.e: Upheld, EIR 5.2: Upheld, FOI 10: Upheld, FOI 37: Not upheld
The complainant has requested information about a meeting held between HRH the Prince of Wales and the Right Honourable Sajid Javid MP on 28 March 2017. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) disclosed some information falling within the scope of the request but withheld the remainder citing section 37(1)(aa) of the FOIA – communications with the heir to the throne and regulation 12(4)(e) of the EIR - internal communications. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MHCLG has correctly applied the exemption under 37(1)(aa) to the withheld information. For the information that the Ministry has applied regulation 12(4)(e) to, the exception is engaged but the public interest in disclosure outweighs that of maintaining the exception. The Commissioner also finds that the Ministry breached section 10 of the FOIA – time for compliance; and regulation 5(2) – duty to make environmental information available within 20 working days. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the withheld information identified by the Ministry as Annex B.