The Northern Ireland Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) seeking confirmation as to whether legal advice had been sought on a Private Members’ Bill whose purposes was to modify the effect on domestic law of arrangements relating to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU, and if so a copy of the date of the advice and any summary of it. The NIO refused to confirm or deny whether it held any information falling within the scope of the request on the basis of the exemption contained at section 35(3) by virtue of sections 35(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 35(3) is engaged but that the balance of the public interest favours confirming or denying whether the NIO holds information falling within the scope of the request.