Summary: The complainant requested information the Cabinet Office held about the decision to award Robert Kerslake a Knighthood and Michael Hedges a CBE in the 2005 New Year-™s Honours list. The Cabinet Office provided the complainant with the short citation in relation to both individuals and explained that it considered the remainder of the information it held to be exempt from disclosure by virtue of the exemption contained at section 37(1)(b) of the Act (conferring of an honour by the Crown) and some of the information to also be exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 40(2) of the Act because disclosure would breach the first data protection principle. The Commissioner has concluded that all of the withheld information is exempt from disclosure under section 37(1)(b) of the Act and that the public interest favours withholding the information.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 37 - Complaint Not upheld