[wdmmg-discuss] HMRC are at their option exempt from Freedom of Information

[Lisa Evans]

Many thanks for posting this Francis. I've booked an appointment to speak 
to my local MP about this and the WGA non-disclosure.

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010, Francis Irving wrote:

> For a while the idea has been in my mind that the statements of
> Government bank accounts would, ultimately, be an excellent way to get
> detailed public sector spending information (for WDMMG etc.)
>
> (I think it probably came from Julian Todd originally)
>
> Recently I heard about the Government Banking Service, and so made an
> FOI request from HMRC for the most basic of information - a list of
> which bodies hold accounts using it.
>
> This is the response I got:
> http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/36547/response/96992/attach/html/2/1699%2010%20response.pdf.html
>
> They give several exemptions that only apply to some accounts, but one
> odd exemption that applies to all the information that I requested.
>
> This is section 18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act
> 2005 (CRCA) (via section 44 (another act prohibits disclosure) of the
> FOI act)
>
>    "Revenue and Customs officials may not disclose information which
>    is held by the Revenue and Customs in connection with a function
>    of the Revenue and Customs."
>
> http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2005/ukpga_20050011_en_2#pb4-l1g18
>
> According to Alex Skene (a WhatDoTheyKnow volunteer), this is exactly
> as it appears. A "nuclear option" which lets HMRC refuse any FOI
> request it feels like.
>
> No ICO complaint has ever won on this one - here's a list of them that
> Alex and other WhatDoTheyKnow volunteers have been keeping.
>
> http://foiwiki.com/foiwiki/index.php/FOIA_Section_44_Exemption#Commissioners_for_Revenue_and_Customs_Act_2005+_-_sections_18-20
>
> Alex also says:
>
>    CRCA Section 20 does allow for limited public interest disclosure
>    to various bodies (e.g. police, intelligence bodies, health &
>    safety etc), but to get it published for any other reason you have
>    to get the Treasury to issue a relevant Statutory Instrument...
>
> This is problematic, as it means FOI potentially provides no scrutiny
> of how our tax is collected.
>
> Francis
>
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