Information Commissioner's Office

Cabinet Office

27 September 2007, Central government

The complainant made a request to the Cabinet Office for details of the person or persons who drafted the executive summary of the Iraq dossier. The public authority refused the request under Section 21 of the Act as it said that the issue of who drafted dossier, including its executive summary, had been considered as part of the Hutton Inquiry and that this information was available on the inquiry’s website. The public authority added that it held no further information. The Commissioner has considered the complaint and has found that the public authority applied section 21 correctly and that it holds no further information falling within the scope of the complainant’s request. However, the Commissioner has found that the public authority breached section 17 of the Act by failing to issue the complainant with a refusal notice within 20 working days of receiving the request. This decision notice is currently under appeal to the information tribunal.

FOI 17: Upheld