Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested the dates between May to October 2010 on which the Secretary of State for Scotland met the Secretary of State for Defence to discuss the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. The Scotland Office initially refused this request on the basis of sections 35(1)(b) and 35(1)(d) and varied this to sections 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) at the internal review. In submissions to the Commissioner the Scotland Office confirmed that its position was that the information was in fact exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 35(1)(b), although in the alternative it would seek to rely on section 36(2)(b)(ii). The Commissioner accepts that section 35(1)(b) is engaged but in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption does not outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information. As section 35(1)(b) is engaged, the Scotland Office cannot also rely on section 36(2)(b)(ii) as the exemptions contained within the two sections of the Act are mutually exclusive.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 35 - Complaint Upheld