§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many requests for environmental information under the Access to Environmental Information Regulations 1992 have been received by his Department; how many were answered within two months; how many were refused; and on what grounds in each case.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe ODA does not keep records of the number of requests received under the environmental information regulations nor when they were answered. The ODA keeps records of refusals to supply information and the grounds for refusal.
In the period up to 30 June 1994, the Department gave 14 refusals: in 11 cases because no formal environmental impact assessments existed and in one case because the content contained internal advice; in another case, the report had been commissioned by, and was the property of, another Government; and in the other case access was refused on the ground of commercial confidentiality.