Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

The complainant has requested copies of briefings and readouts from specific meetings with water companies. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (‘Defra’) provided redacted copies of the briefings, and relied on regulations 12(4)(e), 12(4)(d) and 12(5)(f) of the EIR to withhold the redacted information in the briefings and the readouts in their entirety. The Commissioner’s decision is that Defra was entitled to rely on regulations 12(4)(e) and 12(4)(d) of the EIR. However, he finds that the public interest favours disclosure of the requested information with the exception of all redactions in Annex F and two redactions in Annex D. He also finds that Defra was not entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(f) of the EIR. The Commissioner requires Defra to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the requested information with the exception of the redactions in Annex F and the first two redactions in Annex D.