Home Office fuller disclosure reply, 16 April 2026

JBD request: 16 March 2026 · JBD filing reference: FoI_1C1a · Authority case reference: FOI2026/03841

JBD request date: 16 March 2026
JBD internal filing reference: FoI_1C1a
Authority case reference: FOI2026/03841

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Home Office ministerial disclosure

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Pete Lindsay
pete.lindsay@justicebydesign.org.uk

16 April 2026

2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
www.gov.uk/home-office
FOIRequests@homeoffice.gov.uk

Dear Pete Lindsay
Freedom of Information Request: FOI2026/03841

Thank you for your email of 16 March 2026, which we have included as Annex A. Your
request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 (FOIA).

We are able to disclose some of the information you have requested.

Regarding points one and four of your request, the full submission and its supporting
documents, a section of which has already been released to you as part of
FOI2026/02862, are provided in Annex B.

Regarding point two of your request, a search was conducted for any ministerial decision
records relating to the submission in Annex B. The search identified an email response
from the Home Secretary’s Private Office, which is included in Annex C.

Regarding point three, we searched for any earlier ministerial briefings predating the
submission in Annex B. We located a submission from the Advisory Council on the Misuse
of Drugs (ACMD) to the Home Secretary, sent ahead of a meeting between the then
ACMD Chair and the Home Secretary. This has been included in Annex D.
Certain details have been redacted, including personal data, commercially sensitive
material, and legal advice.
Information has been withheld under section 40(2) of the FOIA because of the condition at
section 40(3A)(a) where this concerns the personal data of third parties. The Home Office
has obligations under data protection legislation and in law generally to protect personal
data. This exempts personal data from release if disclosure would contravene any of the
data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and
section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. We believe release would breach the first
data protection principle, since it would be unlawful and unfair to disclose the information.

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Information has also been withheld under section 42 and 43 of the FOIA.  
 
Some of the information you have requested consists of records of legal advice obtained 
by the Department. This information is therefore exempt from disclosure under section 
42(1) of the Act, which protects information subject to legal professional privilege.  
 
This exemption was invoked following consideration and internal discussion of the merits of 
releasing legal advice and the public interest in transparency and openness. Disclosure of 
the information would limit the ability of officials to seek candid legal advice without fear of 
disclosure at a later date, and we have concluded that the balance of the public interest 
lies in not releasing the legal advice received by the department.  
 
Some of the information you have requested is exempt under section 43(2) of the Act, as 
its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any 
person. 
 
This exemption was invoked following consideration of the merits of not withholding the 
commercial information in the documents being released, including the public interest in 
transparency. Disclosure in this case carries a risk of affecting the willingness of 
commercial organisations to voluntarily disclose information to public bodies and to engage 
openly with the regulator and we have concluded that the balance of the public interest lies 
in not identifying the commercial organisations and products in question.  
 
If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review 
of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months 
to foirequests@homeoffice.gov.uk, quoting reference FOI2026/03841. If you ask for an 
internal review, it would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the 
response. 
As part of any internal review the Department's handling of your information request would 
be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. If you 
were to remain dissatisfied after an internal review, you would have a right of complaint to 
the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the FOIA. 
A link to the Home Office Information Rights Privacy Notice can be found in the following 
link. This explains how we process your personal 
information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-rights-privacy-notice  
Yours sincerely 
Public Safety Group

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ANNEX A

Thank you for your response of 13 March 2026 to request FOI2026/02862, and for
the disclosure of the material provided in Annex B and Annex C.
The extract reproduced in Annex C appears to form part of a ministerial submission
titled: “Cannabis: Options on Definition of Cannabis Based Medicinal Products
(CBPMs)”, sent from the Home Office Drugs and Alcohol Unit to the Home Secretary and
the Policing Minister on 13 September 2018.
To ensure the material disclosed can be properly understood in its full evidential and
decision-making context, I would be grateful if you could clarify and provide the
following recorded information.

1. Full ministerial submission
Annex C appears to reproduce only a section of the submission dealing with
smoking. Please confirm whether the complete ministerial submission exists and, if so,
provide:
• the full submission document,
• all sections and annexes forming part of that submission, and
• any attachments or supporting briefing papers that accompanied the
submission.

2. Ministerial decision record
Please confirm whether a recorded ministerial decision exists in relation to the
submission referenced above. If so, please provide any relevant records, including for
example:
• ministerial minutes,
• decision logs,
• written approvals or comments recorded on the submission,
• or any equivalent documentation recording the decision taken.
FoI_1C1a 16/03/2026

3. Preceding policy briefings
Please confirm whether any earlier briefing submissions, internal policy advice,
or options papers were prepared for Ministers prior to the 13 September 2018
submission that addressed:
• the treatment of smoking as a route of administration for cannabis-based
products for medicinal use, or
• the regulatory approach that later became Regulation 16A(3) of the Misuse
of Drugs Regulations 2001.
If such material exists, please identify and provide it.

4. Supporting annexes or analytical material
If any of the above submissions included supporting annexes or analytical
material (for example legal analysis, policy options papers, impact assessments, or
equality-related considerations), please include those documents in the disclosure.

For clarity, this clarification request concerns the ministerial briefing chain
associated with the decision to introduce a regulatory prohibition on
administration of cannabis-based products for medicinal use by smoking, as
referenced in the material disclosed in Annex C. If locating the full briefing chain would
exceed the cost limit under section 12, I would be grateful for advice under section 16 as
to how the request could be refined so that the relevant decision-making material can be
identified and disclosed.