Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of Freedom of Information Act requests were (a) referred to and (b) decided by a Minister in the 2021 calendar year.
Answered by Michael Ellis
In line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, officials will refer to Ministers any requests which require the opinion of a qualified person as to whether or not the exemption at section 36 is engaged.
The Cabinet Office does not gather statistics on the number of referrals made to Ministers.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether an official in his Department informed any employee or official of Southampton University prior to 5 August 2011 that it would be unlawful for that university to give public access to any of (a) the private diaries of Lord or Lady Mountbatten and (b) their letters to each other.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As the hon. Member will be aware, there are several FOI exemptions that remain in place for historic records. As I said in previous answers, this case is currently before the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) and it would not be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there was any communication from his Department to the University of Southampton prior to 5 August 2011 which mentions (a) the diaries of Lord or Lady Mountbatten or (b) any of their letters to each other.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As the hon. Member will be aware, there are several FOI exemptions that remain in place for historic records. As I said in previous answers, this case is currently before the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) and it would not be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department had any involvement in the drafting of the Ministerial Direction dated 5 August 2011 under section 9 of the National Heritage Act 1980 vetting the Mountbatten Archive in the University of Southampton.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As the hon. Member will be aware, there are several FOI exemptions that remain in place for historic records. As I said in previous answers, this case is currently before the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) and it would not be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department advised Southampton University prior to 5 August 2011 that it would be unlawful for that university to give public access to any of the private (a) diaries and (b) letters of Lord or Lady Mountbatten.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As the hon. member will be aware, there are several FOI exemptions that remain in place for historic records. As I said in previous answers, this case is currently before the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) and it would not be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has a timeframe for the full release of the Broadlands Archive, including the letters and diaries of Earl Mountbatten.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As the hon. member will be aware, there are several FOI exemptions that remain in place for historic records. As I said in previous answers, this case is currently before the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) and it would not be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.