Information Commissioner's Office

Cabinet Office

25 April 2016, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office for correspondence or communications exchanged with representatives of either Lambeth Palace or Westminster Abbey concerning the funeral of Her Majesty The Queen or the Coronation of the next Monarch. The Cabinet Office confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but considered it to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of the following sections of FOIA: 31(1)(a) (prevention or detection of crime); 35(1)(a) (government policy); 37(1)(a) (communications with the Sovereign); 38(1)(b) (endangering the safety of an individual); 40(2) (personal data) and 41(1) (information provided in confidence). The Commissioner has concluded that the withheld information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 35(1)(a) and that the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.

FOI 35: Not upheld