Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

The complainant has requested information on the reasons for the delay in the sign-off of the Air Quality Expert Group Report on Potential Impact of Shale Gas Extraction in the UK. Defra provided some information but withheld internal emails on this subject under the exception for internal communications (Regulation 12(4)(e)). The Commissioner’s decision is that the exception is engaged but the public interest favours disclosing the information.  The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose the withheld information, ensuring that any personal data is redacted under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018.