§ Rob MarrisTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance his Department issues to civil servants on how to deal with claims from organisations that the information they provide to the Department is commercially confidential. [105483]
§ Ruth KellyIt is not standard practice to verify claims of commercial confidentiality on receiving information from organisations as this issue is normally only relevant if the question arises as to whether the information should be disclosed to another party. The Treasury has not issued guidance on this issue. In the event of a request for information claimed to be commercially confidential, officials would rely on the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and central guidance on the operation of the Code to determine whether information should be withheld.