16 November 2015, Central government
The complainant has requested information relating to newspaper reports that FBI agents will be coming to the UK to guard UK airports against ‘jihadi fanatics’. The Cabinet Office refused to confirm or deny whether it held any such information and cited the exemptions provided by sections 23(5) (information relating to or supplied by security bodies) and 24(2)(national security) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Cabinet Office was entitled to rely on the exemptions at sections 23(5) and 24(2) to neither confirm nor deny whether it held information within the scope of the request which, if held, would be exempt by virtue of sections 23(1) and 24(1) FOIA.
FOI 23: Not upheld FOI 24: Not upheld