Cabinet Office

The complainant requested information from the Cabinet Office about whether, within the last three years, any FOIA request relating to the Gatwick Airport drone incident and/or Operation Trebor had been flagged for the clearing house, referred to the National Security Liaison Group (NSLG), or referred as a ‘round robin’. The Cabinet Office’s original response neither confirmed nor denied whether it held the requested information, relying on section 24(2) of FOIA (national security). During the Commissioner’s investigation the Cabinet Office confirmed that no information is held in relation to the ‘round robin’ element of the request, and clarified that it relies on section 24(2) only in relation to the NSLG element. The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: 
•    On the balance of probabilities, the Cabinet Office does not hold any information within the scope of the request about ‘round robin’ referrals. However, by failing to confirm that this information was not held in its response to the request, the Cabinet Office breached section 1(1)(a) of FOIA and, as a consequence, section 10(1). 
•    The Commissioner has not been provided with any basis on which the Cabinet Office can refuse to confirm or deny whether it holds information about the clearing house element of the request. The Cabinet Office has therefore breached section 1(1)(a) and section 10(1) in relation to that element. 
•    The Cabinet Office was not entitled to rely on section 24(2) to neither confirm nor deny whether it holds information in relation to the NSLG element of the request. The Commissioner is not satisfied that confirming or denying whether the requested information is held is reasonably necessary for the purpose of safeguarding national security. 
•    In the alternative, even if section 24(2) were engaged, the Commissioner finds that the public interest favours confirming or denying whether the information is held. 
The Commissioner requires the Cabinet Office to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: 
•    Issue a fresh response to the complainant which confirms or denies whether it holds any information within the scope of the request about whether FOIA requests relating to the Gatwick Airport drone incident and/or Operation Trebor were flagged for the clearing house. If information is held, the Cabinet Office must either disclose it or issue a refusal notice which complies with section 17 of FOIA. 
•    Issue a fresh response to the complainant which confirms or denies whether it holds any information within the scope of the request about whether FOIA requests relating to the Gatwick 
Airport drone incident and/or Operation Trebor were referred to NSLG. If information is held, the Cabinet Office must either disclose it or issue a refusal notice which complies with section 17 of FOIA.