Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested copies of all correspondence between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the British Indian Ocean Territory Conservation/ Environmental / Scientific Advisor, covering the period 1 January 2008 to the present. The FCO ultimately said that part of one document and two further documents were exempt from disclosure. The respective relative exceptions being regulation 12(5)(a) (international relations, defence, national security or public safety) and 13(1) (personal data) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The complainant agreed with the Commissioner not to pursue the disclosure of the two documents withheld under regulation 13(1). The Commissioner upholds the FCO reliance on regulation 12(5)(a) for the part of the document withheld under regulation 12(5)(a). The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with a copy of -�The March 2011 report by Professor Charles Sheppard, Environmental Adviser to the BIOT Commissioner, of his annual visit to BIOT-� save for the part identified to the Commissioner by the FCO as being exempt from disclosure by virtue of regulation 12(5)(a) of the EIR.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: EIR 12.5.a - Complaint Not upheld