Secretary of State for Defence (Ministry of Defence)

The complainant requested a range of information from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) about the Army Officer Selection Board. The MOD initially withheld all of the information falling within the scope of the request on the basis of section 26(1)(b) (defence) of FOIA. At the internal review it upheld this position with the exception of one piece information which it disclosed (albeit, the MOD noted that, at the time of the request this should have been withheld on the basis of section 22 of FOIA (information intended for future publication)). The Commissioner’s decision is that information which the MOD continues to withhold is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 26(1)(b) of FOIA and that in all the circumstances of the request the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.