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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

  • Date 25 July 2023
  • Sector Central government
  • Decision(s) FOI 37: Upheld, FOI 40: Not upheld

The complainant has requested information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) relating to the awarding of the Queen’s honours. The FCDO disclosed some information to the complainant with further information redacted on the basis of section 37(1)(b) (honours) and section 40(2) (personal data) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the parts of the information to which the FCDO have applied section 37(1)(b) fall within the scope of this exemption but that the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption. He has however concluded that section 40(2) provides a basis to withhold the information to which this exemption has been applied.