Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested information relating to a meeting that took place in June 2005 between Whitehall Advisers and Lord Drayson, the Under-Secretary for Defence and Minister for Defence Procurement. The MoD responded by providing a broad description of the information held, indicating among other things that no formal note of the meeting had been taken. Having inspected the information which has been withheld the Commissioner agrees that disclosure would be prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs and that the public interest does not require disclosure. He also agrees that some of the information is exempt by virtue of the provision of the Act relating to personal information. The MoD also cited other exemptions which the Commissioner does not accept apply in this case; however, this does not affect the Commissioner's general finding which is that the MoD has dealt with the request in accordance with the Act. The Information Tribunal has ruled on this decision and has dismissed the appeal.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 36 - Complaint Not upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Not upheld