FT/EA/2025/0017 - [2025] UKFTT 01234 (GRC)

The information request was made at a time of considerable public and Civil Service discussion of the issue of working from home for the civil service. There had been well publicised interventions by a Minister (Jacob Rees-Mogg) commenting on the absence of civil servants from their desks in government departments. The Government had made a policy decision and each department was working through a process with its own staff to implement it. It was a live issue in each department affecting the working arrangements of many people. The substantive content of the decision and the reasons for it were well known.

The Qualified Person submission addressed the question of the need for frank exploration of the issues raised by the submission as the operational policy for each department was worked out. There is a clear need to ensure that those involved in policy formation can feel assured that such advice, views and comments will not be prematurely disclosed into the public domain. The Qualified Person’s opinion was clearly a reasonable one in the circumstances of implementing a significant change.

The issues were well known and publicly debated. The release of the requested report/submission would therefore not add significantly to public knowledge and understanding of the decision then being implemented across the civil service; accordingly there was at the time of the refusal little public interest in disclosure. There has been no need for a closed section of the decision.

The appeal is dismissed.