Nobel House
Area 1E
17 Smith Square
T: 03459 33 55 77
London
xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
SW1P 3JR
www.gov.uk/defra
Mhairi Brown
Our ref: FOI2021/09052
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx 28 April 2021
Dear Mhairi Brown,
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Soft Drinks Industry Levy
Thank you for your request for information of 31 March 2021 about the soft drinks industry
levy. We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
Your information request and our response are set out below.
I am writing, in accordance with Freedom of Information legislation, to request the release
of the fol owing:
1)
Correspondence (electronic & hard copy/written) between senior officials within
your Department and food/beverage corporations or trade bodies/associations on
the topic of HM Treasury's Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), since January 2015.
Fol owing a search of our paper and electronic records, we have established that
the information that you have requested is not held by Defra.
2)
Minutes and attendee lists of meetings between senior officials within your
Department and food/beverage corporations or trade bodies/associations on the
topic of HM Treasury's SDIL, since January 2015.
We can confirm that Defra holds information relating to two meetings which were
held in 2018. This is attached at Annex C.
Information disclosed in response to this FOIA request is releasable to the public. In
keeping with the spirit and effect of the FOIA and the government’s Transparency Agenda,
this letter and the information disclosed to you may be placed on GOV.UK, together with
any related information that will provide a key to its wider context. No information
identifying you will be placed on the GOV.UK website.
We attach Annex A, explaining the copyright that applies to the information being released
to you, and Annex B giving contact details should you be unhappy with the service you
have received.
If you have any queries about this letter please contact me.
Yours sincerely
Jo Collinge
Information Rights Team
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
Annex A
Copyright
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use
it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research, and for
any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law. Documents (except
photographs or logos) can be also used in the UK without requiring permission for the
purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would
require the permission of the copyright holder.
Most documents produced by Defra will be protected by Crown Copyright. Most Crown
copyright information can be re-used under the
Open Government Licence. For
information about the OGL and about re-using Crown Copyright information please see
The National Archives website.
Copyright in other documents may rest with a third party. For information about obtaining
permission from a third party see the
Intel ectual Property Office’s website.
_________________________________________
Annex B
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request you may
make a complaint or appeal against our decision under section 17(7) of the FOIA or under
regulation 11 of the EIRs, as applicable, within 40 working days of the date of this letter.
Please write to Andrew Mobsby, Head of Information Rights via email at
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx and he will arrange for an internal review of your case.
Details of Defra’s complaints procedure are on our website.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, section 50 of the FOIA and
regulation 18 of the EIRs gives you the right to apply directly to the Information
Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Please note that generally the ICO cannot
make a decision unless you have first exhausted Defra’s own complaints procedure.
The ICO’s offices are currently closed so please visit their website on how to contact them
during this period, here:
https://ico.org.uk
Additionally if you wish to make a complaint to the ICO please use the following link:
https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/official-information-concerns-report/official-information-
concern/