Information Commissioner's Office

Cabinet Office

14 December 2016, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the public authority for copies of briefings prepared for The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office in advance of Parliamentary debates relating to the introduction of individual electoral registration by the last Coalition Government. The Commissioner has concluded that the public authority was not entitled to rely on the exemption contained at section 35(1)(a) FOIA because in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption.

FOI 35: Upheld