Cabinet Office and Freedom of Information
The Cabinet Office plays a vital role in ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act across Government
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The Cabinet Office plays a vital role in ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information (“FOI”) Act 2000 across Government, providing assistance on complex FOI requests while also making sure sensitive information is handled appropriately.
Departments should refer to the Cabinet Office any FOI requests where the Cabinet Office may have an equity in the information sought, whether or not that information is held. This includes requests relating to collective cabinet responsibility, national security or honours. The full referral criteria can be found here.
Separately, departments are also asked to notify the Cabinet Office of new requests which appear to have been made to more than one department and which have repeat characteristics (sometimes referred to as ‘round robins’). This is to help ensure that there is a consistent approach across government.
When referring a ‘round robin’ request departments are asked not to forward the name of the requestor. Cabinet Office circulates to departments, usually twice-weekly, a list containing the text of round robins received within the last month, the date the Cabinet Office was notified of the request, a reference number and, where appropriate, advice to departments on the approach to be taken.
All government departments are public authorities for the purposes of the FOI Act and it is for those departments, not the Cabinet Office, to make the final decision on whether or not to disclose the information sought by the requestor.
Freedom of Information statistics
The Cabinet Office publishes information on the handling of requests. Statistics for FOI requests in central government departments and other monitored bodies. Freedom of Information statistics are designated National Statistics in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
National Security Liaison Group
The National Security Liaison Group (NSLG) provides advice on FOI requests where there is a concern that information in scope of the request will engage exemptions related to national security, and to ensure these requests are handled appropriately under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, or other relevant legislation.
The NSLG is made up of a range of stakeholders with core national security interests, including the Cabinet office, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, National Police Chiefs Council and Security bodies.
The Freedom of Information ‘Clearing House’ Function
The Cabinet Office has held responsibility for the freedom of information policy since 2015 and, as part of the machinery of government change, took over the responsibility from the Ministry of Justice for operating a ‘FOI Clearing House’ function, which was established in 2004.
In 2022, the then Minister of State for the Cabinet Office asked Sue Langley OBE to review the operation of the function and to ascertain the optimum working model to support the effective operation of the Freedom of Information Act across government. The Report of the review and other documents relating to it can be found below.
In line with Sue Langley’s recommendations, the FOI Clearing House function was closed in December 2022 and has been redesigned to more clearly operate as an advisory function.
- Freedom of Information - FOI Clearing House Review (HTML)
- Freedom of Information - FOI Clearing House Review (PDF) (pdf, 236 kb)
- Letter from Lord True to Sue Langley about leading the review of the Freedom of Information Clearing House function (pdf, 91.7 kb)
- Review of Cabinet Office FOI Clearing House: Terms of Reference (pdf, 92.1 kb)
Best Practice
The Government welcomes the vision set out in Sue Langley’s Report for the Cabinet Office to extend its role in setting standards and promoting the effective handling of FOI across all government departments. As part of this, and from time to time, the Government will publish guidance on cross-cutting themes that are specific to central government. The guidance on FOI and the role of Special Advisers was previously published as part of the Government’s response to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s inquiry into Cabinet Office’s FOI Clearing House function.
The Cabinet Office has issued technical guidance to FOI practitioners across central government on the approach to be taken when a requestor asks for disclosure in a spreadsheet format. Any disclosure of information under FOIA needs to comply with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 by ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to safeguard against inappropriate disclosure of personal data. This guidance is in addition to that given on the ‘Means of Communication’ in the FOI Code of Practice published here, and which will be revised in due course.
Government response to the Information Commissioner’s Office Consultation on Prioritising Access to Information Complaints
The Government has published its response to the ICO’s consultation on prioritising access to information complaints.
- Government response to ICO consultation on prioritising access to information complaints (HTML)
- Government response to ICO consultation on prioritising access to information complaints (PDF, 199 kb)
Cabinet Office and Freedom of Information documents (2015-2022)
The Cabinet Office has held responsibility for the freedom of information policy since 2015 when, as part of the machinery of government change, it took over the responsibility from the Ministry of Justice. Documents relating to Freedom of Information Policy prior to 2015 can be found at The National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk).
- Clearing House Referral Criteria (published March 2021) (pdf, 24.9 kb)
- Clearing House Remit (published March 2021) (pdf, 17 kb)
- The Clearing House Referral Form (published March 2021) (pdf, 17 kb)
- Letter from CDL to the Guardian (18 March 2021) (pdf, 290 kb)
- Letter from CDL to the Society of Editors (18 March 2021) (pdf, 156 kb)
Updates to this page
Last updated 14 December 2023 + show all updates
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Added the document: Freedom of Information Guidance: Communication by Spreadsheet
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Added a section: Best Practice Added the document: FOI Cross Government Guidance on FOI and the Role of Special Advisers
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The body text has been updated to reflect changes in process that have taken place since the page was last updated. The following documents were also added: Cabinet Office FOI Referral Criteria (June 2023) Cabinet Office Round Robin Process (June 2023)
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Added the document: Government response to ICO consultation on prioritising access to information complaints
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Added Freedom of Information - FOI Clearing House Review
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The Cabinet Office has appointed Sue Langley OBE to review the operation of the Clearing House. We have published a terms of reference for the review.
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First published.