Section 21 Information accessible to the applicant by other means: government, and in particular the Treasury, publishes a vast amount of economic information which could provide a full response to a request.

Section 22 Information intended for future publication: as indicated above, much information is exempt from disclosure for a limited period of time and is then published as a matter of routine.

Section 27 International relations: information about overseas economic interests where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between the UK and any other state, relations between the UK and any international organisation (such as the IMF or World Bank), or international court, the interests of the UK abroad, or the promotion or protection by the UK of its interests abroad.

Section 30: Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities and

Section 31 Law enforcement: In certain circumstances departments such as the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise might prosecute cases which revealed information whose disclosure might harm the UK economy.

Section 33 Audit: some financial information may be required for audits, this exemption protects information the disclosure of which would prejudice the exercise of functions in relation to the audit of the accounts of other public authorities, or the examination of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which other public authorities use their resources.

Section 35 Formulation of government policy: disclosure of economic options being considered (for example to tax policies or closing tax loopholes) relates to the formulation or development of government policy.

Section 43 Commercial interests: government may hold information which constitutes a trade secret, or the release of which would, or would be likely to, damage the commercial interests of any person or organisation.

Section 44 Information the disclosure of which by the public authority holding it is prohibited by or under any enactment, or is incompatible with any Community obligation. This would be relevant to information falling within, for example:

• the restriction on the disclosure of confidential information in section 348 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and the relevant directive restrictions on the disclosure of information (listed in regulation 1 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Disclosure of Confidential Information) Regulations 2001); and
• the restriction on the disclosure of information obtained for monetary policy or cash ratio deposit purposes in section 37 of the Bank of England Act 1998.