Cabinet Office
- Date 15 February 2024
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 23: Not upheld, FOI 24: Not upheld, FOI 36: Not upheld
The complainant requested a copy of a retained file, and related information, from the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office disclosed parts of the file. It withheld some information, citing sections 23(1) (Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters) or 24(1) (National security) in the alternative, of FOIA. It refused to disclose the related information, citing sections 36(2)(b)(i), (ii) and (2)(c) (Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) and section 40 (Personal information) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Cabinet Office was entitled to apply sections 23(1) or 24(1) in the alternative, to withhold parts of the file. He also finds that sections 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) were correctly applied to withhold the related information. However, the Cabinet Office did not complete its deliberations on the balance of the public interest within a reasonable time, and therefore breached section 17(3) of FOIA. Information Tribunal FT/EA/2024/0065 under appeal.