Information Commissioner's Office

Welsh Assembly Government

29 January 2008, Central government

The complainant requested details of subsidies paid to all farmers in Wales under the Common Agricultural Policy. The public authority initially refused the information citing the exemptions at sections 40 and 44 of the FOI Act or, in the alternative, the exceptions at regulations 12(3) and 12(5)(e) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The Commissioner’s decision is that the information requested is ‘environmental information’ within the definition in regulation 1(1) and therefore the request should have been treated under the regulations. The Commissioner’s decision is that none of the exceptions cited apply, and accordingly the public authority should now disclose the information to the complainant.

EIR 12: Upheld