RPI Consultation

You asked

I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The information I seek refers to the 2012 National Statistician’s Consultation on options for improving the Retail Prices Index.

Specifically I seek;

a) legal advice provided to ONS or the National Statistician associated with the consultation in the period 8 October 2012 to 13 January 2013.

b) correspondence between the ONS and HM Treasury whether by post or email in association with the consultation in the period 8 October 2012 to 13 January 2013

c) correspondence between the ONS and the Bank of England whether by post or email in association with the consultation in the period 8 October 2012 to 13 January 2013

We said

Thank you for your request.

Please find the documents within scope of your request. Some information has been withheld under the following exemptions within the FoI Act:

• s.40(2) Personal information - such as names and contact details.
• s.41(1) Information provided in confidence - the release of information would result in a breach of confidence.
• s.44(1)(a) Prohibitions on disclosure - information which would identify businesses, the disclosure of which is prohibited under section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act.
• s.42(1) Legal professional privilege - the use of this exemption is subject to a public interest test. Whilst we acknowledge that there are transparency arguments in favour of disclosure, we feel this is outweighed by the need to safeguard the free a frank discussion between ONS and their legal advisors.