Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office FCDO (previously FCO)
- Date 8 July 2025
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Partly upheld, FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 40: Partly upheld, FOI 41: Partly upheld
The complainant submitted a two part request to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) seeking information about delisting decision for persons previously designated as subject to sanctions. The FCDO initially responded by stating that it held information in the scope of both parts of the request. It argued that in relation to part 1 the information was exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 35 (formulation or development of government policy) and 36 (effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA and in relation to part 2 that the information was exempt on the basis of sections 40 (personal data) and 41 (information provided in confidence). The FCDO subsequently amended its position and argued that none of this fell within the scope of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the information initially withheld on the basis of sections 35 and 36 does not fall within the scope of part 1 of the request and nor does the FCDO hold any other information falling within the scope of this part of the request. He has found that the information initially withheld on the basis of sections 40 and 41 does fall within part 2 of the request, as does additional information identified by the Commissioner during the course of his investigation. The Commissioner is satisfied the information which he considers to be in scope is exempt from disclosure with the exception of some information which in his view can be disclosed in redacted form so that neither sections 40 or 41 would apply to the disclosed information.