Information Commissioner's Office

Ministry of Defence

16 November 2015, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) seeking information about gifts ministers had received from the Qatari government or Qatari civil service. The MOD provided the complainant with some of the information falling within the scope of his request and withheld the remainder because it considered it to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 21, section 22 or sections 27(1)(a) and (c) of FOIA. The complainant disputed the MOD’s reliance to withhold part of the requested information on the basis of sections 27(1)(a) and (c). The Commissioner has concluded that the detailed description of each gift that the MOD holds, and the value of each gift, is not exempt from disclosure on the basis of either of these exemptions. However, the Commissioner accepts that the information which the MOD holds regarding the final status of each gift, ie how it was disposed of, is exempt from disclosure on the basis of the sections 27(1)(a) and (c) and furthermore that the public interest favours maintaining these exemptions. The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with the detailed description of all gifts (ie those both under and over the value of £140) and also provide him with the monetary value of each gift. 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.

FOI 27: Partly upheld