Rights & Security International v Information Commissioner & Anor
[2024] UKFTT 296 (GRC)
David Pegg v The Information Commissioner & Anor
26 April 2024
[2024] UKFTT 342 (GRC)
First-tier Tribunal
A journalist wanted to know how much the royal family's security costs. The government said no, because releasing even a general figure could help someone plan an attack by combining it with other information already available (the 'mosaic effect'). A court agreed that the risk to security was too great, even though it's important to know how public money is spent.
Key Facts
- •David Pegg, a Guardian journalist, requested information from the Home Office regarding the cost of royal security.
- •The Home Office refused, citing national security exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
- •The Information Commissioner upheld the Home Office's decision.
- •Pegg appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber).
- •The Tribunal considered evidence, including closed sessions, regarding the potential risk to national security from disclosing the information.
- •The Tribunal considered the 'mosaic effect' – where seemingly innocuous pieces of information can be combined to create a security risk.
Legal Principles
Public interest test under FOIA: The public interest in maintaining an exemption must be weighed against the public interest in disclosure.
FOIA, sections 1(1)(b), 2(2)(b), 24(1), 31(1), 38(1), 57, 58
Section 24(1) FOIA: Information is exempt if exemption from section 1(1)(b) is required for safeguarding national security. 'Required' means 'reasonably necessary'.
FOIA, section 24(1)
Weight accorded to public authority's view on national security: While weight should be given to the public authority's view, it is not a trump card.
FCDO v Information Commissioner and others [2023] UKUT 248 (AAC); [2022] 1WLR
Aggregation of public interest in multiple exemptions: The public interest in two or more different statutory provisions exempting information should be assessed in combination.
The Department for Business and Trade v Information Commissioner & Brendan Montague [2023] EWCA Civ 1378
Mosaic effect: Even if individual pieces of information are not sensitive, their combination can create a significant risk.
Case law and evidence presented
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The Tribunal found that the public interest in maintaining the national security exemption under section 24(1) FOIA outweighed the public interest in disclosure. The risk of increased confidence for potential attackers, enabled by the information's combination with publicly available data, was deemed significant.