Information Commissioner's Office

Cabinet Office

17 August 2015, Central government

The complainant has requested a copy of 75 questions which the Major Projects Authority asked High Speed Two (HS2) Limited to address. The Cabinet Office dealt with the request under FOIA and refused it citing section 33 – prejudice to audit functions and section 35 – information relating to the formulation or development of government policy. It later dropped section 33 but maintained its reliance on section 35. The Commissioner’s decision is that the requested information is environmental information and that therefore the request should have been dealt with the EIR. The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide a fresh response under the EIR and either disclose the 75 questions under regulation 5(1), or issue a refusal notice in accordance with regulation 14. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court. The Commissioner also finds that by failing to provide an internal review of its decision to withhold the requested information the Cabinet Office breached regulation 11 of the EIR. This decision notice is currently under appeal to the Tribunal.

EIR 2(1): Upheld EIR 11: Upheld