HM Treasury

The complainant submitted a request to the HM Treasury (HMT) about a Ministerial statement concerning the cost to public pension schemes as a result of a recent court case. The statement estimated that the cost would be £4bn per annum and the complainant sought a breakdown of this figure by pension scheme. HMT withheld this information on the basis of section 35(1)(a) (formulation and development of government policy). The Commissioner’s decision is that the requested information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 35(1)(a) of FOIA and that in all the circumstances of the request the public interest favours maintaining the exemption. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2020/0309 appeal withdrawn.