Home Office

: The complainant requested information relating to ‘small boats’, including a copy of a Lessons Learned Review which was mentioned in a 2019 ICIBI [Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration] report. The Home Office denied holding some of the requested information. It refused to provide the Lessons Learned Review, citing sections 27 (international relations), 31 (law enforcement), 35 (formulation of government policy) and 40 (personal information) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office was entitled to rely on sections 27(1)(a) and 31(1)(a)(b)(e) of FOIA to withhold information within the requested review. However, he finds that while section 35(1)(a) is engaged, the public interest favours disclosing some of the information caught by this exemption. The Commissioner requires the Home Office to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose the recommendations, withheld only by virtue of section 35, within the ‘Summary of Recommendations’ table in the review.