Cabinet Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office seeking correspondence between it and the University of Southampton regarding the purchase of the ‘Mountbatten Archive’. The Cabinet Office disclosed some information to the complainant but sought to withhold further information falling within the scope of his request on the basis of sections 21 (reasonably accessible to the requester), 23 (security bodies), 26 (defence), 27 (international relations), 35 (formulation and development of government policy), 40 (personal data), 41 (information provided in confidence), 42 (legal professional privilege), 43 (commercial interests) and 44 (statutory prohibition) of FOIA. The complainant also submitted a further request to the Cabinet Office seeking a schedule of the correspondence falling within the scope of his request. The Commissioner has concluded that only some of the information which the Cabinet Office is seeking to withhold is exempt from disclosure on the basis of the exemptions it has cited. The remaining information is not exempt from disclosure. The Commissioner also has concluded that the Cabinet Office failed to provide the complainant with a schedule of information in response to his further request. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2020/0059 appeal allowed in part. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2020/0026 allowed in part.