ICO The complainant has requested a letter from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey and to the Prime Minister’s private secretary about John Hayes. He also asked for any response. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) refused the request under section 35(1) (a) and (b) on the grounds that the information related to government policy and was also a ministerial communication. The Commissioner decided that the request should be considered under the EIR at which point the DECC applied regulation 12(4)(e) internal communications to withhold the letter from Ed Davey. However it did not address the issue of whether there was any reply to that letter. The Commissioner’s decision is that regulation 12(4) (e) is engaged in respect of the letter from Ed Davey but finds that the public interest favours disclosure. The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose the letter. The DECC should also deal with the second element of the request. If there was no response, the DECC should confirm this by applying regulation 12(4) (a).
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: EIR 12.4.e – Complaint Upheld
Citations:
[2013] UKICO FER0489836
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 28 May 2022; Ref: scu.528977