Office of the Secretary of State for Wales

The Commissioner’s decision is that at the time of the request the Welsh Office was entitled to withhold some of the information the complainant has requested (“the withheld information”) under regulations 12(5)(e) and 13 of the EIR, which concern commercial interests and personal data of third parties.
The Commissioner’s decision is also that some of the requested information does not fall under the above exceptions and the Commissioner considers that this should be disclosed to the complainant.
The Commissioner orders the Welsh Office to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:
• To disclose the information to which neither regulation 12(5)(e) nor regulation 13 of the EIR applies, i.e. that information which it has not highlighted in either green or blue in the most recent copy provided to the Commissioner.
The Welsh Office must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.