Department for Business & Trade (DBT)

The complainant requested information following two meetings between Lord Johnson and named participants in 2023 and 2024. The Department for Business and Trade (‘DBT’) disclosed the information it held in ‘Annexes A to D’ with redactions under a number of FOIA exemptions. Ultimately, the complainant was only concerned with the information in Annex C redacted under section 27(1) (the FOIA exemption for international relations). Specifically, the redactions in Annex C were withheld by DBT under FOIA exemptions section 27(1)(a) – relations between the United Kingdom and any other State, 27(1)(c) – the interests of the United Kingdom abroad and 27(1)(d) – the promotion or protection by the United Kingdom of its interests abroad. The Commissioner’s decision is that DBT has properly relied on sections 27(1)(a), (c) and (d) of FOIA for the redactions in Annex C. No steps are required as a result of this notice.