Cabinet Office

The complainant requested from the Cabinet Office a copy of the former Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak’s, Ministerial Declaration of Interests documents, including all interests, as submitted to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. The Cabinet Office relied on section 21 (information accessible by other means), section 36 (effective conduct of public affairs), section 41 (information provided in confidence) and section 40(2) (third party personal information) of FOIA to withhold the information. The complainant contested the use of these exemptions, with the exception of section 21.The Commissioner’s decision is that the Cabinet Office can rely on section 36(2)(c) of FOIA to withhold all the information falling in scope of the request. His full position is set out in a confidential annex which will be provided to the Cabinet Office only. The Commissioner does not require further steps to be taken.