Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) seeking information about a meeting between Lord Barker of Battle and Sir Alan Duncan MP. The FCO confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but explained that it considered the requested information to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 35 (formulation and development of government policy) of FOIA and it needed additional time to consider the balance of the public interest test. To date, the FCO has failed to complete its public interest test deliberations in relation to the request. By failing to complete these deliberations within a reasonable timeframe the Commissioner has concluded that the FCO has breached section 17(3) of FOIA in respect of its handling of this request. She requires the FCO to provide the complainant with a substantive response to his request.