Information Commissioner's Office

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

4 April 2007, Central government

The complainant requested a copy of the agendas for meetings of the Green Ministers Committee since its formation in 1997. Defra provided the complainant with a summary of the agendas from 8 June 1998 to 19 June 2001. Defra claimed the rest of the information was exempt from disclosure under section 35 of the Act. Having investigated, the Commissioner accepts that section 35 applies to the information requested. However he does not accept that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information and consequently finds that the exemption was improperly applied. An appeal was made to the Information Tribunal but was later withdrawn.

FOI 35: Upheld