ICO Decision On PATI Request On Airport Letter
Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 13/2018 in relation to a PATI request concerning the airport redevelopment agreement.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said, “On 31 December 2018, Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 13/2018, partially upholding the decision of the Ministry of Finance under the Public Access to Information [PATI] Act 2010 to withhold records related to the letter of entrustment concerning the airport redevelopment agreement.
“The requester sought the legal opinion from Bennett Jones on whether a letter of entrustment was needed and correspondence with the UK Government related to the airport redevelopment agreement with the Canadian Commercial Corporation [CCC].
“In Decision 13/2018, the Information Commissioner noted that the Ministry released all but two records during the ICO’s investigation. The Information Commissioner found that the Ministry was justified in denying access to the content of the legal opinion and the correspondence to the UK Government on the grounds that the records were exempt under section 35[1] for legal professional privilege and section 32[1][b] for information communicated in confidence by a State.
“The Information Commissioner also found that the balance of the public interest required disclosure of the date of the legal opinion. Finally, the Information Commissioner found that the Ministry had not processed some records that were responsive to the PATI request.
“The Information Commissioner required the Ministry to complete its processing of records in accordance with Decision 13/2018 and the PATI Act, and to disclose the date of the legal opinion on or before 11 February 2019.”
The full Information Commissioner’s Decision 13/2018 follows below [PDF here]:
plp have too much to lose including their personal freedom if all their dirty little secrets came out!