Cabinet Office (Central government) [2023] UKICO 71150 (9 March 2023)
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Cabinet Office
The complainant has requested full copies of Dominic Cummings’ diary appointments from January through to March 2020. The Cabinet Office originally withheld some of the requested information under section 35(1)(a)(formulation or development of government policy) and withheld some other information held under section 40(2)(third party personal data). In their internal review, and in the alternative to section 35(1)(a), the Cabinet Office relied upon section 36 (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) to withhold the information in its entirety. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the Cabinet Office also applied section 35(1)(b)(Ministerial communications) and section 35(1)(d)(operation of any Ministerial private office) to some of the information held within scope of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the withheld information is not exempt under section 35(1)(a) but some of the information is exempt under sections 35(1)(b) and 35(1)(d). The Commissioner has found that with respect to the information withheld under section 35(1)(d), the public interest balance favours disclosure of the information. Similarly, in respect of the information withheld under section 35(1)(b) the Commissioner has found that the public interest balance favours disclosure, with the exception of those entries detailed in the Confidential Annex to this notice. The Commissioner has found that sections 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) apply to the withheld information not otherwise exempt under sections 35(1)(b) and (d) but that section 36(2)(c) is not engaged. With the exception of a small number of specific entries detailed in the Confidential Annex, the Commissioner considers that the public interest in disclosure of the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining sections 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii). The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Disclose to the complainant the withheld information, with the exception of the specific calendar entries detailed in the Confidential Annex attached 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 FOIA and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.
FOI 36:
Complaint upheld
Decision notice: 71150
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URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2023/71150.html
