Information Commissioner's Office

Cabinet Office

12 January 2017, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office seeking Cabinet minutes and correspondence dating from 1991 in which the Bank of Credit & Commerce International was discussed. The Cabinet Office relied on section 35(3) of FOIA to refuse to confirm or deny whether it held any Cabinet minutes. The Cabinet Office confirmed that it held relevant correspondence but it considered this to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 21, 27, 35 and 41 of FOIA. It also sought to rely on section 23(5) to refuse to confirm or deny whether it held any further correspondence falling within the scope of this request. The Commissioner has concluded that the Cabinet Office is entitled to rely on section 35(3) in the manner which it did. However, for the reasons set out in this notice the Commissioner has also concluded that the various exemptions cited by the Cabinet Office only provide a basis to withhold some of the correspondence that it acknowledges holding. The remaining correspondence is not exempt from disclosure.

FOI 35: Partly upheld FOI 41: Partly upheld FOI 23: Not upheld FOI 27: Partly upheld FOI 21: Upheld