
Information Rights Team
Post Office Limited
Ground Floor
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London EC2Y 9AQ
Our reference: FOI2022/00238
Eleanor Shaikh
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
25 April 2022
Dear Ms Shaikh,
Request under the Freedom of Information Act FOI2022/00238
Thank you for your information request received by Post Office Limited (“Post Office”)
on 24 March 2022, which we are dealing with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”).
Your request read as follows:
“In response to FOI 2020/00430, Minutes of the Project Sparrow Committee
Meeting of 30 April 2014 were released (link below).
PS14/12 (a) of these Minutes makes reference to a paper received by the
Committee ‘on the options to support Second Sight or reduce their role in
supporting the scheme’ (p2).
I would be most grateful if you would disclose this paper."
We can confirm that Post Office holds the information you have requested.
Section 42 FOIA exempts information in respect of which a claim to legal professional
privilege could be maintained. Post Office considers that it can maintain a claim to
legal professional privilege in respect of the information you have requested and that
section 42 is therefore engaged.
Section 42 is a qualified exemption and therefore the public interest test has also
been considered. Post Office is satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the
exemption by withholding the privileged information outweighs the public interest in
disclosing it. In reaching this conclusion Post Office has considered a variety of factors
for and against disclosure, including the public interest in transparency, and the wider
context. Against these factors Post Office notes in particular the strong inherent public
interest in preserving legal privilege which it considers, in all the circumstances,
outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
It is on this basis that Post Office is withholding the information you have requested.
If you have any queries about this response, please contact me. Do remember to
quote the reference number above in any future communications.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of this response, you do have a right to
request an internal review. You can do this by writing to the address above or to
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx stating your reasons for your internal review
request.
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If, having requested an internal review by Post Office, you are still not satisfied with
our response you also have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
https://ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely
David Sinclair
Information Rights Team
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/access-information
@postofficenews
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information about
how we do this can be found on our website at www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy.
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