Ministry of Defence

The complainant submitted a request to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) seeking data used to calculate the costs and number of lost firing hours as a result of vandalism on Ash Ranges. The MOD provided a table containing the description of each incident, the dates each was reported the completion date of work, and where held, the number of firing hours lost. The MOD withheld the cost of each specific incident on the basis of section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that withheld information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 43(2) of FOIA and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.