Overview
- The Information Commissioner’s Office rejected The Times’ appeal to force the Cabinet Office to disclose how many ministers had declared past convictions.
- The ruling accepted the Cabinet Office’s argument that even releasing aggregate totals could expose individuals if the number changed after resignations.
- Ministers currently submit any prior convictions to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, who decides what is published on the ministerial register of interests.
- The Times says it will appeal the ICO decision, while Liberal Democrats call for the ministerial code to require public declaration of criminal records.
- In a related case, the Cabinet Office spent more than £30,000 resisting release of the blank declaration form, and a judge said such visibility could strengthen public confidence.