Information Commissioner's Office

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

29 March 2017, Central government

The complainant has requested from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) copies of any correspondence held between the Prince of Wales and (a) Nick Brown and (b) Margaret Beckett, which referred to foot-and-mouth disease. Defra refused to confirm or deny whether information relevant to either of the requests was held, citing the exemptions in section 37(2) (communications with the Royal Family), section 40(5) (third party personal data) and section 41(2) (information provided in confidence) of FOIA. The Commissioner considers that the requests may cover both environmental and non-environmental information and should therefore have been dealt with under the EIR and FOIA respectively. She has further found that Defra breached section 10(1) of FOIA and regulation 5(2) of the EIR by failing to issue a response in accordance with each piece of legislation within the specified timeframe. Insofar as FOIA applies, the Commissioner considers that Defra is entitled to neither confirm nor deny whether information is held under section 37(2) of FOIA. Where the EIR applies, however, the Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: Respond to the complainant’s requests under the EIR.

FOI 37: Not upheld EIR 2(1): Upheld FOI 10: Upheld EIR 5(2): Upheld