Secretary of State for Defence (Ministry of Defence)

The complainant submitted a request to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for statistics showing the number of Vanguard submarine crew members who have left the Royal Navy for personal reasons in each of the last ten years. The MOD confirmed that it held the requested information but it considered this to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 24(1) (national security) and 26(1)(a) and (b) (defence) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the requested information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 26(1)(a) and (b) and that the public interest favours maintaining each exemption. However, the MOD breached section 17(1) by failing to issue its refusal notice within twenty working days.