HM Treasury

The complainant has requested information related to meetings between HM Treasury (HMT) and Amazon and/or Amazon Web Services that relate to the £8 billion of investment by Amazon Web Services. HMT disclosed some information but refused to provide the remainder, citing section 35(1)(a) (formulation/development of government policy), section 40 (personal data) and section 43 (commercial interests) as its basis for doing so. The complainant did not challenge section 40. HMT disclosed further information at internal review and during the Commissioner’s investigation. The Commissioner’s decision is that HMT is entitled to rely on section 35(1)(a) and section 43(2) as its basis for withholding the remainder of the information it holds within the scope of the request. HMT also exceeded the time for compliance when responding to the request. In doing so, it contravened sections 1, 10 and 17. The Commissioner does not require further steps.