Cabinet Office

The complainant made a request to the Cabinet Office for recorded information it held in respect of the discussions between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat negotiating teams prior to the formation of the coalition government. The Cabinet Office responded providing some relevant information whilst withholding additional information under the exemption found in section 36 (Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs). The Commissioner has investigated and determined that section 36(2)(c) applies to all of the information withheld from the complainant and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The Commissioner finds the Cabinet Office in breach of section 17(1) in that it did not provide a refusal notice to the complainant within the specified time limit.