Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant submitted a request to the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine (GHACPW) for the database which detailed what wine was held in the government wine cellar. The GHACPW refused to provide the database on the basis that it was exempt from disclosure by virtue of section 43(2) of the Act. Following this refusal, and in response to an earlier decision notice issued by the Commissioner relating to a separate request by a different complainant, the GHACPW disclosed some parts of the database. By the time that this notice has been issued the complainant has therefore been able to access some of the information that he requested. (Furthermore, at the point at which this notice is being issued the GHACPW no longer exists with its functions and roles having been subsumed into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). This notice is therefore being served on the FCO.) In respect of the remaining information that has not been disclosed, the Commissioner has concluded that some of this is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 43(2); namely the original order number, cost per bottle, agency price and date each wine was ordered. However, the Commissioner has also concluded that the market price and stock held of each wine is not exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 43(2) and the FCO must therefore disclose this information.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 43 - Complaint Partly Upheld