Home Office

The complainant has requested from the Home Office, copies of any communications sent by a former Home Secretary which mention or refer to ‘Arron Banks’ or ‘Leave.EU’. The Home Office would neither confirm nor deny whether it held the requested information, citing the exemption at section 35(3) (formulation of government policy) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that although the exemption at section 35(3) of the FOIA is engaged, the public interest in favour of confirming or denying whether or not the Home Office holds the requested information is greater than the public interest in maintaining the exemption.  The Commissioner requires the Home Office to confirm or deny whether information falling within the scope of the request is held, and either disclose or issue a valid refusal notice in respect of any information identified.