Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested information concerning contact between the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, and representatives of all private sector companies and lobbying groups for a two week period in January 2013. The Cabinet Office withheld the information falling within the scope of the request on the basis of the exemptions provided by the following sections of FOIA: 29(1)(a) and (b) (the economy); 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) and 36(2)(c) (effective conduct of public affairs); 43(2) (commercial interests) and 40(2) (personal data). The Commissioner has concluded that all of the requested information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 29(1)(a) and (b) and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining these exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosure. However, he has also concluded that the Cabinet Office breached section 17(3) by failing to complete its consideration of the public interest within a reasonable time period and section 17(1) by failing to specify in its refusal notice exemptions upon which it later relied.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 29 - Complaint Not upheld