British
and Irish Legal Information Institute
Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
Information Commissioner's Office
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Information Commissioner's Office >> HM Treasury (Central government) [2023] UKICO 190608 (31 August 2023)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2023/190608.html
Cite as: [2023] UKICO 190608
[New search] [Printable PDF version] [Help]
HM Treasury
The complainant has requested email correspondence between HM Treasury (HMT) and US officials on the subject of Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP’s Green Card for a period prior to his visit to the US as Chancellor of the Exchequer in October 2021. HMT refused citing section 40 (personal data) and section 35 (ministerial communications) as its basis for doing so. It upheld this at internal review. In course of the Commissioner’s investigation, HMT changed its position. It supplied the Commissioner with the email correspondence it had initially considered but argued that it was out of the scope of the request. Where the Commissioner disagreed, it argued that sections of it were exempt under section 40 and section 35. It also introduced reliance on section 27 (international relations). The Commissioner’s decision is that the majority of the information in question is within the scope of the request. There is a small section which HMT insisted was out of the scope of the request and the Commissioner agrees with this. However, he has decided that HMT is entitled to rely on the exemptions it has cited in respect of other information. It cited these exemptions in the alternative to its “out of scope” arguments. There is a small section of the information which it supplied to the Commissioner during his investigation which it did not mark as exempt. Furthermore, it did not insist that this information was out of scope either. The Commissioner requires HMT to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: To disclose to the complainant that information which is identified in the Confidential Annex to this Notice. 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 40: Complaint not upheld FOI 27: Complaint not upheld FOI 35: Complaint not upheld FOI 1: Complaint partly upheld
Decision notice: 190608