Ministry of Defence internal review FOI2026/09190

description specified in the request; 
b. 
Section 1(1)(b) which, subject to certain exemptions, creates an entitlement 
to receive the information held by the public authority; 
c. 
Section 10(1) which states that, subject to certain provisions allowing 
extensions of time, the public authority must comply with the requirements  
of section 1(1) promptly, and in any event not later than the twentieth 
working day following the date of receipt; and 
d. 
Section 16(1) which states that it is the duty of a public authority to provide 
help and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect the authority 
to do so, to persons who propose to make, or have made, requests for 
information to it. 
3. 
Your request for information, received by the Department on 1 May 2026, was worded 
as follows: 
 
1 1988 Dispossession of Great House Farm, Llandough from the Williams/ Requester Family - a Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Defence - 
WhatDoTheyKnow 
2 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/744071/CoP_FOI_Code
_of_Practice_-_Minor_Amendments_20180926_.pdf  

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“I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 
2000 regarding any involvement of UK Armed Forces personnel in mine, my 
pregnant mother and heart conditioned fathers eviction/dispossession that 
took place in 1988 at Ty Mawr (Great House Farm), Llandough, near 
Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan. 
Specifically, I request the following: 
1. Whether any units of the UK Armed Forces, including but not limited to 
UK Special Forces (e.g. SAS), were deployed, tasked, or otherwise 
involved in this incident before, during or after the 1988 eviction (involving 
upto a reported 30 police officers). 
2. Any records, logs, operational reports, orders, requests or 
communications referring to military support to civil authorities in relation to 
this event. 
3. Any documentation relating to Military Aid to the Civil Authorities 
(MACA) requests connected to this incident. 
4. Any correspondence between the Ministry of Defence and: 
+ South Wales Police 
+ Vale of Glamorgan Council 
+ Welsh Office (as it existed at the time) 
concerning the eviction or associated operations. 
5. Any internal assessments, reviews, or after-action reports relating to 
the use of force or military involvement in this case. 
For clarity, the incident involved the removal of myself and my family from 
Ty Mawr (Great House Farm) in 1988, reportedly involving a significant and 
coordinated enforcement presence.” 
4. 
Section 10(1) of the Act requires that you receive a response by no later than the 
twentieth working day following date of receipt by the relevant public authority (MOD), which 
in this case was by 2 June 2026. The Department wrote to you on 29 May 2026, and 
therefore within statutory timescale. The response confirmed under section 1 of the Act that 
no information in scope of your request was held. Additionally, the response neither 
confirmed nor denied under section 23(5) (information provided by or relating to a security 
body) whether any information in scope of your request was held relating to Special Forces 
involvement in the incident. You were correctly informed of your right to appeal. 
5. 
In summary, your request was handled in accordance with the Act. 
Substance 
6. 
As part of this review, I have considered your request again from first principles and 
my findings are below. 
No information held 
7. 
Section 1(1) of the Act states that any person making a request for information to a 
public authority is entitled to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds 
information relevant to the request, and if so, to have that information communicated to 
them, subject to any exemptions that may apply.  
8. 
Searches for information within the scope of your request were conducted across the 
Ministry of Defence archives using a comprehensive keyword search strategy designed to 
capture all relevant records. In addition, targeted searches were carried out within the 
pertinent areas of the Department, specifically the Army Secretariat and the 

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Counterterrorism and United Kingdom (CT&UK) branches, to address the Military Aid to the 
Civil Authorities (MACA) element of your request. Despite these efforts, no information 
matching the criteria of your request was located in any of these sources. 
9. 
I am therefore satisfied that no information in scope of your request is held. 
Use of Section 23(5) (information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with 
security matters) 
10. 
Section 23(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 states that the duty to confirm 
or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would involve 
the disclosure of any information (whether or not already recorded) which was directly or 
indirectly supplied to the public authority by, or relates to, any of the bodies specified in 
subsection (3). 
11. 
The Ministry of Defence neither confirms nor denies whether it holds information 
relating to Special Forces involvement in the incident. In doing so, it has engaged the 
‘neither confirm nor deny’ (NCND) provision under section 23(5). This is an absolute 
exemption, meaning that requests for information falling within this category can be refused 
without consideration of the public interest. 
12. 
Given the direct reference to UK Special Forces in the wording of your request, the 
Department is satisfied that the exemption at section 23(5) was correctly engaged in order 
to honour the long-held British Government convention never to comment on or confirm the 
activities of Special Forces. Notwithstanding the declaration above that the information 
requested in relation to this request is not held, this response should not be taken as an 
indication that any information relating to Special Forces within the scope of your request is 
or is not held. 
Request for personal information 
13. 
I note that a part of your email of appeal you have requested personal information, in 
particular at parts 1 and 5. I can advise that these elements of your appeal have been 
raised as a subject access request and forwarded to the relevant area of the Department to 
be processed under the Data Protection Act. 
Conclusion 
14. In summary, I find that: 
a. Your request was not handled in accordance with the timeliness requirements of 
the Act. 
b. No information in scope of your request is held. 
c. Section 23(5) information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security 
matters) was correctly applied to your request. 
d. Elements of your appeal have been taken forward by the Department to be 
processed as a subject access request under the Data Protection Act. 
If you remain dissatisfied with the review, you may make a complaint to the Information 
Commissioner under the provisions of section 50 of the Act by following this link - 
https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/foi-and-eir-complaints/. Further details of the role and 
powers of the Commissioner can be found on the following website: https://ico.org.uk.  
Yours sincerely, 
 
 

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Paul Daly