HM Treasury

The complainant has requested from HM Treasury (“HMT”) information exchanged between a named official and any other individual which lead to the decision to select Sir Amyas Morse to head the government’s review into its Loan Charge policy over a specific timeframe. It relied on provisions of section 36 (effective conduct of public affairs) and section 40 (contravention of data protection law) as its basis for doing so. It upheld this at internal review. The Commissioner’s decision is that HMT is entitled to rely on the exemptions it cited as its basis for refusing this request with respect to most of the withheld information. However, it is not entitled to withhold the number of other potential candidates that were considered for the role of heading the aforementioned review. This information is not exempt from disclosure. The Commissioner requires HMT to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the number of potential candidates that were initially considered for the role of heading the government’s review into its Loan Charge policy. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court. Information Tribunal EA/2023/0222 appeal dismissed.