Information Commissioner's Office

British Museum

7 April 2015, Education (Other)

The complainant has made a number of requests to the British Museum for records on the subject of the Parthenon sculptures in its collection. The British Museum addressed each of the requests in turn; providing some parts of the requested information, withholding other parts, or otherwise explaining that it did not hold the requested information. The present complaint refers to one request and concerns British Museum’s reliance on the exemptions set out at sections 36(2)(b)(ii) and 36(2)(c) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA to withhold information. The Commissioner has decided that the withheld information engages the exemptions and that in all the circumstances the public interest in maintaining the exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosure. He does not therefore require any steps to be taken as a result of this notice.

FOI 36: Not upheld