Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant has requested information from DEFRA about correspondence DEFRA has had about the implementation of the Door Drop Preference Service (-�DDPS-�) covering the period from 7 May 2012 to 6 November 2012. DEFRA provided some correspondence that it held and sought to rely upon regulation 12(4)(d)(material in the course of completion) and regulation 12(4)(e)(internal communications) in relation to the remaining information. During the investigation the complainant advised that he accepted that regulation 12(4)(e) applied to some of the withheld information in so far as it related to internal communications. The Commissioner-�s decision is that DEFRA is entitled to rely upon regulation 12(4)(d) in respect of the correspondence held as it relates to a voluntary agreement still being formulated. He is also satisfied that the public interest in releasing the information is outweighed by the public interest in withholding the information. He is therefore satisfied that DEFRA has met its obligations under the EIR and requires no steps to be taken to comply with the legislation.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: EIR 12.4.d - Complaint Not upheld