Cabinet Office (Central government) [2023] UKICO 98121 (28 March 2023)
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Cabinet Office
The complainant has requested correspondence and communications between The Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Boris Johnson concerning the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cabinet Office initially confirmed that they held no information which was environmental in nature which related to the request and refused the request under regulation 12(4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). In respect of any information held that was not environmental in nature, the Cabinet Office neither confirmed nor denied whether they held such information in reliance on exemptions 37(1)(aa)(communications with the heir to the Throne), 40(2)(third party personal data) and 41(1)(information provided in confidence). The Cabinet Office partially revised their position at internal review, maintaining that none of the information requested by the complainant was environmental in nature and that the request therefore falls under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and not the EIR. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Cabinet Office were correct to find that the information requested by the complainant is not environmental in nature within the definitions of the EIR and that the Cabinet Office were correct to refuse to confirm or deny whether they hold the information requested under section 37(2) of the FOIA. However, the Commissioner finds that the Cabinet Office breached section 10(1) of the FOIA in that they took longer than 20 working days to provide the complainant with a response to his request.
FOI 37(2) :
Complaint not upheld
FOI 10(1):
Complaint upheld
Decision notice: 98121
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URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2023/98121.html
