Information Commissioner's Office

Cabinet Office

26 May 2016, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office for a copy of the letter proposing that Robert Kerslake be made a life peer and the letter in which this proposal was accepted. The Cabinet Office refused to disclose the requested information on the basis of section 37(1)(b) of FOIA which provides an exemption for information which relates to the conferring of an honour or dignity. The Commissioner has concluded that the requested information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 37(1)(b) but that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure of the information. The Cabinet Office must therefore disclosure the withheld information.

FOI 37: Upheld