The Clerk of The House - House of Commons

The complainant submitted a request to the House of Commons (HoC) seeking information about submissions received in response to the Public Bill Committee’s call for evidence about the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill. The HoC sought to refuse parts of the request on the basis of section 34(1) (parliamentary privilege) and refused to confirm or deny whether it held information falling within the scope of another part of the request on the basis of section 34(2). The Speaker of the HoC issued a certificate certifying that these exemptions applied. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 34(1) of FOIA provides a basis upon which to withhold the information falling within the scope of parts 1-3 of the request, and that section 34(2) allows the HoC to refuse to confirm or deny whether it hold any information falling within the scope of part 4 of the request.