Cabinet Office (Central government) [2022] UKICO 95382 (19 May 2022)
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Cabinet Office
The complainant requested information relating to the Prime Minister’s ‘lockdown declaration’ on 23 March 2020 and, specifically, any legal advice that had been sought prior to the Prime Minister’s address to the nation. The Cabinet Office initially relied on section 42(2) and, subsequently, section 35(3) of FOIA to refuse to confirm or deny whether it held any relevant information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Cabinet Office has failed to demonstrate that issuing a confirmation or a denial would, in itself, disclose information to which legal professional privilege could be maintained and is therefore not entitled to rely on section 42(2) of FOIA. Whilst the Commissioner agrees that section 35(3) of FOIA is engaged, he considers that the balance of the public interest favours confirming or denying whether the information is held. The Commissioner requires the Cabinet Office to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: confirm or deny whether it holds any information falling within the scope of the request; to the extent that any information is held, either disclose that information or issue a refusal notice that complies with section 17 of FOIA.
FOI 42:
Complaint upheld
FOI 35:
Complaint upheld
Decision notice: 95382
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URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2022/95382.html
