Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

The complainant requested communications held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which related to the potential awarding of funding to the Belfast rap group Kneecap under the Music Export Growth Scheme. DCMS refused the request under section 36(2)(b)(i) and section 36(2)(b)(ii) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs), though it later confirmed that it did not hold all of the requested information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the exemptions are engaged in respect of all of the withheld information. However he finds that the public interest in maintaining the exemptions does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure of most of the requested information. The Commissioner requires DCMS to disclose the withheld information, with the exception of personal identifiers of individuals.