Home Office
- Date 13 December 2019
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 35: Not upheld
The complainant has requested copies of any communications between the Home Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and various current and former ministers, regarding the British Indian Ocean Territory (Citizenship) Bill 2017–19 (“the Bill”) and the immigration status of Chagossians. The Home Office refused the request, stating that the requested information was exempt from disclosure under section 35(1)(a) (formulation of government policy etc) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office was entitled to rely on the exemption at section 35(1)(a) of the FOIA to withhold the information.