Defence & Security Organisation

Transcription

1 ~~l' ~ UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation UKTI DSO 1 Victoria Street Lon~on SW1H OET T +44 (0) Public enquiries +44 (0) Textphone (for those with hearing impairment) E foi. reguests@bis.gsi.gov.uk Ref No: FOI2015/ September 2015 Dear INTERNAL REVIEW OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST FOI2015/14018 I am writing in response to your request for an internal review of the above case. I have now reviewed the information which was withheld by the Department in its response to your original request. I set out my decision below. Your original request was made on 8 July and asked for the following information: "I would like to request a list of countries and territories invited by UKTI DSO to attend the DSEI arms fair in September The government has recently delayed publication of invitations to arms fairs until as late as possible, at the earliest when they are due to start. I would like to ask that the government reverts to its previous practice of providing the list in advance of events. I waited for the publication of the Security & Policing 2015* delegation list at the start of that event. However, this was not published and I needed to submit a FoiA request in order to obtain the information. I assume this means that the stated practice of publishing it "immediately before the event" (FoiA, UKTI DSO, ) is defunct.

2 I note that a parliamentary question has been tabled requesting the list of country delegations (written questions 2402). The 18 June 2015 answer stated that the invitation process had not yet been completed. The response to my request for the dates of invitations for the 2013 DSEI arms fair (FoiA, UKTI DSO, ) listed the last recorded invitation date as 18 June Late ministerial clearance was given on 20 June 2015 for one invitation (the rest being 29 January 2013), so I assume any invitation would have been made shortly after that. On that basis, I would expect that the invitations for this year would have been made by now and the list can be released. To allow further lee-way, I would be happy to be provided with the invitation list as at the end of this month (I am assuming I would not receive a response before then regardless). lt is clearly in the public interest for the public to know which countries are being invited to browse weaponry in the UK. As the government has stated, such events "in the past have attracted Parliamentary and media interest as well as the attention and some action by pressure groups. The Campaign Against the Arms Trade may draw attention to this event. Full press lines will be produced nearer the time" (FoiA, UKTI DSO, ). If the government is embarrassed by entries on the list, then those countries should not be on the list. " The Department responded to your request on 4 August 2015 (the Response). The Response explained that the information was exempt from disclosure under S22 of the Freedom of Information Act (the Act). In compliance with 'the Act' I have conducted an internal review of the original response. In performing this review I have considered whether the original response to your request was correct. In our original response, we withheld the information under S22 of the Act for the reasons stated. We remain satisfied that at that time, your original request was handled appropriately, and that exemption under S22 was applicable. However, I agree we should provide you with the list as soon as the invitation process for DSEI2015 has been completed. Given this is now the case, we are able to release the requested information. This is attached at Annex A, and will be published on the DSO website very shortly. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF Yours sincerely,?'p DSO Operations Director Page 2 of 3

3 Annex A Countries, Territories and Organisations invited by UKTI DSO to attend DSEI Country Algeria Angola Australia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Botswana Brazil Brunei Canada Chile Colombia Denmark Egypt Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Ghana Hong Kong India Indonesia Iraq Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Lithuania Malaysia Country Mexico Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Qatar Romania Saudi Arabia Singapore South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Trinidad & Tobago Thailand Turkey United Arab Emirates Ukraine USA ' Page 3 of 3

4 To: FOI Requests Tue 11/08/ :08 Dear Information Rights Unit I would like to request an internal review of the response to FOI2015/ It is hard to envisage a realistic situation where releasing the DSEI arms fair invitation list six weeks in advance of the event would provide information that is likely to offend foreign governments or affect HMG's ability to liaise and negotiate with them. It is concerning that seemingly speculative ideas regarding the sensitivity of foreign officials and politicians are allowed to trump the acknowledged public interest in knowing the delegation lists. It is also far from clear that the concern over timing is even relevant given the period under discussion (the six weeks before the event). Timings for invitations for the previous DSEI did not indicate any known invitations during that period. I hope you will provide the invitation list as soon as possible. Yours faithfully Research Co-ordinator Campaign Against Arms Trade

5 UKTI Department for Business, Innovation & Skills 1 Victoria Street London SW1H T E +44 (0) Public enquiries +44 (0) Textphone (for those with hearing impairment) foi.requests@bis.gsi.gov.uk Our ref: FOI2015/ August 2015 Dear, Thank you for your to the Information Rights Unit on the 8 th July 2015 in which you requested: I would like to request a list of countries and territories invited by UKTI DSO to attend the DSEI arms fair in September The government has recently delayed publication of invitations to arms fairs until as late as possible, at the earliest when they are due to start. I would like to ask that the government reverts to its previous practice of providing the list in advance of events. I waited for the publication of the Security & Policing 2015* delegation list at the start of that event. However, this was not published and I needed to submit a FoIA request in order to obtain the information. I assume this means that the stated practice of publishing it immediately before the event (FoIA, UKTI DSO, ) is defunct. I note that a parliamentary question has been tabled requesting the list of country delegations (written questions 2402). The 18 June 2015 answer stated that the invitation process had not yet been completed. The response to my request for the dates of invitations for the 2013 DSEI arms fair (FoIA, UKTI DSO, ) listed the last recorded invitation date as 18 June Late ministerial clearance was given on 20 June 2015 for one invitation (the rest being 29 January 2013), so I assume any invitation would have been made shortly after that. On that basis, I would expect that the invitations for this year would have been made by now and the list can be released. To allow further lee-way, I would be happy to be provided with the invitation list as at the end of this month (I am assuming I would not receive a response before then regardless).

6 It is clearly in the public interest for the public to know which countries are being invited to browse weaponry in the UK. As the government has stated, such events in the past have attracted Parliamentary and media interest as well as the attention and some action by pressure groups. The Campaign Against the Arms Trade may draw attention to this event. Full press lines will be produced nearer the time (FoIA, UKTI DSO, ). If the government is embarrassed by entries on the list, then those countries should not be on the list. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ('the Act'), you have the right to: know whether we hold the information you require; be provided with that information (subject to any exemptions under the Act which may apply). I can confirm that the Department holds the information you are seeking. However, the information is exempt from disclosure under Section 22 of the Act. Section 22 (Information for future publication) is subject to a public interest test that it is reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should be withheld from disclosure until the future date of publication (section 22(1)(c)) and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure (section 2). We acknowledge the public interest in terms of transparency and accountability in knowing which countries have been invited by UKTI DSO to attend DSEI 15 (hence why we publish the list and is stated as our intention in PQ 2402), however the issue here revolves around the timing of publication. A key point under Section 22 is that we have to be fair to all parties when considering the timing of publication. An important part of this is considering other issues that may concern the invited countries and HMG s ability to liaise and negotiate with them. For example, publishing incomplete lists could infer a priority order between invited countries. Cultural sensitivities may mean that countries that are seen publically to receive a late invitation could be offended, especially if a neighbouring country has received an early invitation. This could have a detrimental effect on attendance at the event, relations with the country concerned and/or affect UK interests overseas. The department also needs flexibility to consider incountry situations, maximise the use of available resources for DSEI, and issue or withhold invitations without causing embarrassment to foreign governments. Given these considerations, the department s decision is that on balance the best time to publish the information requested is at or near the start of the exhibition as the list will be up to date, including details of any possible revoking of an invitation. The list requested will be published on Gov.uk, and will subsequently be updated to indicate the countries that attended. Appeals Procedure If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be sent to the Information Rights Unit at: Information Rights Unit Page 2 of 3

7 Department for Business, Innovation & Skills 1 Victoria Street London SW1H OET foi.requests@bis.gsi.gov.uk Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Yours sincerely, Defence and Security Organisation Page 3 of 3