Cabinet Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office seeking legal advice to government Ministers which addressed the legislative basis for the first national Covid-related lockdown in late March 2020. The Cabinet Office confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but considered this to be exempt from disclosure under section 42(1) (legal professional privilege) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the advice is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 42(1) of FOIA, but that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in favour of disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption.