Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) seeking copies of audit reports concerning the ‘Palestinian Recovery and Development Program’, a World Bank multi donor trust fund for the period 2015 to 2022. The FCDO confirmed it held information falling within the scope of the request but withheld this on the basis of section 27(1)(a) (international relations) and section 40(2) (personal data) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the withheld information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 27(1)(a) but that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest favours disclosure of the information. However, the Commissioner accepts that the names and signatures contained in the information are exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 40(2) of FOIA.