This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Business Continuity Information'.


Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local 
Government
Fry Building 
2 Marsham Street 
London 
SW1P 4DF
T 030 3444 0000
www.gov.uk/mhclg
 
Alan Johnson
Date: 9 September 2019
 
 
Dear Alan Johnson
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000 - 4408324
 
Thank you for your request for information which we received on 27 August 
2019 and processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
 
You requested: "Please provide me with a copy of your business continuity policy 
and business continuity strategy.
".
 
I can confirm that we hold this information, but I am withholding it as explained 
below.
 
This information is exempt from disclosure under section 31(1)(a) of the FOI Act as 
disclosing it would be likely to harm the prevention or detection of crime.
Information falling within this exemption must still be provided however unless it is 
not in the public interest to do so. 
There will always be some general public interest in disclosure to promote 
transparency and accountability of public authorities. In particular there will always 
be a public interest argument to disclose a Business Continuity Policy (BCP) to show 
that a public authority is prepared for all situations. 
 
We consider that knowledge of our BCP, could provide external parties with 
information about how to disrupt our service and subsequently use that disruption to 
access either site or services. BCPs contain information regarding how MHCLG 
would respond to crisis situations and emergencies, as well as key information about 
the Departments systems and infrastructure. To make this information available in 
the public domain would defeat the purpose of this kind of planning and put the 
organisation at risk. It is clearly not in the public interest for this to occur. 
 
I have decided, on balance, that it is not in the public interest to disclose this 
information at this time.
 

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OF DRAFT ANSWERS
Complaints procedure
 
If you are unhappy with this response, we will review it and report back to you. (This 
is called an internal review.) If you want us to do this, let us know by return email 
within two months of receiving this response. You can also ask by letter addressed 
to:
 
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Knowledge and Information Access Team
4th Floor SE, Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF
 
If you are unhappy with the outcome of this internal review, you can ask the 
independent Information Commissioner to investigate. The Information 
Commissioner can be contacted at email address xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx or use their 
online form at ico.org.uk/concerns or call them on 0303 123 1113.
 
 
 
Yours faithfully,
MHCLG FOI Team