Department for International Trade

The complainant has requested information relating to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) regarding a job taken up by former Department for International Trade (DIT) Secretary of State, Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP. DIT refused to provide it, citing section 40 (personal information), section 43 (commercial interests) and section 36 (prejudice to the conduct of public affairs) as its basis for doing so. It upheld this at internal review. It introduced an additional provision of section 36 as its basis for withholding the information in correspondence with the Commissioner. The Commissioner’s decision is that DIT is entitled to rely on section 36(2)(b)(i) & (ii) and section 36(2)(c) as its basis for withholding the requested information. However, the Commissioner also found that DIT contravened its obligations under section 10 in failing to respond within 20 working days. No steps are required. First-tier tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) information rights appeal EA/2022/0265 under appeal.