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Cabinet Office and Prime Minister: Email

Asked by Mike WoodConservativeCabinet OfficeTabled Answered 19 May 2026UIN 1187

The question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) his Department and (b) 10 Downing Street Freedom of Information determine Government emails held on tape backups to be information held by the public authority.

Answered by Chris Ward

The Freedom of Information Code of Practice, issued in 2018 under the previous administration, states that information which is only held by a public authority in electronic backup files should generally be regarded as ‘not held’ for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

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