Govt considering its position over Rowntree files (From York Press)

Govt considering its position over Rowntree files

3:59pm Friday 19th October 2012 in News

THE Cabinet Office says it is considering a tribunal’s decison to order it to release secret documents about Nestlé's controversial takeover of Rowntree in 1988.

The Press won a major victory earlier this week in its four-year battle to obtain five Ministerial papers when the Cabinet Office lost an appeal against an Information Commissioner's Office ruling that the files should be made public.

Tribunal chairman Judge John Angel said the public interest favoured disclosure of the documents, and ordered they should be disclosed within 30 days.

However, he said the Cabinet Office could still apply to the tribunal to set aside its decision if it considered there was any ‘procedural irregularity,’ or appeal to an Upper Tribunal if it believed there has been an ‘error of law’.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said it was considering the tribunal’s rulling and would reach a decision on whether to appeal “in due course”.