Cabinet Office

The complainant has requested a copy of any Propriety and Ethics Team due diligence reports relating to the appointment of Chris Pincher as Deputy Chip Whip. The Cabinet Office relied on section 36 (effective conduct of public affairs), section 40(2) (third party personal information) and section 41 (information provided in confidence) of FOIA to withhold the information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Cabinet Office was entitled to rely on section 36 to withhold the requested information. The Commissioner does not require the Cabinet Office to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Some of the Cabinet Office’s arguments and reasoning - and the Commissioner’s accompanying analysis - is included in a confidential annex due to its sensitivity.