Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office seeking parts of a draft text of a free trade agreement shared by the UK with the EU concerning short term business visitors. The Cabinet Office refused to disclose the information on the basis of sections 27(1)(a)-(d) (international relations) of FOIA. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation of this complaint responsibility for this policy area, and with it the withheld information, was transferred from the Cabinet Office to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The Commissioner’s decision is that the FCDO can withhold this information on the basis of sections 27(1)(b)-(d) and that in all the circumstances of this request the public interest favours maintaining the exemptions.