THE Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has backed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after it refused to release any details on the decision to allow US troops and war planes to be stationed at RAF Lossiemouth.
It is the first time the US has had a permanent military presence in Scotland since the end of the Cold War.
We told in November 2025 how the MoD said they did hold information on American Poseidon P8 anti-submarine spy and war planes stationed at the base in Moray, but could not release them as it would give an “advantage to adversaries”.
When The National appealed this decision, the MoD then said in January that it did not hold any of the documentation in scope of our request.
The response read: “A search for the information has now been completed within the Ministry of Defence, and I can confirm that information within the scope of your request is not held.
“Further searches have been conducted within relevant departments, and there were no records identified relating to a decision to station a permanent detachment of United States (US) personnel or aircraft at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lossiemouth during the period specified.”
The National then complained to the ICO regarding the handling of the request, which was beset by repeated delays from the defence department. Seven months later, they have now issued their decision.
Cressida Woodall, senior case officer at the ICO, reviewed the original response, outcome of internal review and the further response from the MoD.
“MOD's internal review identified a number of shortcomings in the way your request was originally handled,” she wrote. “It accepted that the initial response was provided outside the statutory time limit and concluded that the Ministry had incorrectly identified information as falling within the scope of your request.
“In particular, the internal reviewer found that the Memorandum of Understanding relied upon in the original response had been signed in January 2020 and therefore fell outside the period specified in your request. The reviewer consequently directed that the request be reconsidered from first principles and that further searches be undertaken.”
The case officer then set out how the MoD explained they had not identified any records on the decision to station a detachment of troops at RAF Lossiemouth between January 2024 and November 2024, and that “US aircraft activity at the base takes place under existing arrangements and routine operational deployments rather than as a result of a new decision taken during the period covered by your request”.
“I appreciate that you’re not persuaded by MOD's explanation and consider it difficult to accept that no relevant information is held,” Woodall added.
“However, having reviewed the available correspondence, I note that MOD reconsidered the request after identifying flaws in its original handling, undertook further searches and provided an explanation as to why information matching the description in your request wouldn’t be expected to be held.”
She added that the complaint "appears largely to rest on the view that such information ought to exist because US personnel and aircraft have operated from RAF Lossiemouth”.
“However, MOD's position is that those activities were conducted under existing arrangements rather than pursuant to a new decision taken during the timeframe specified in your request,” Woodall added.
“In light of the above, my provisional view is that MOD's position is likely to be correct and that further investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office is unlikely to achieve a different outcome.
“For that reason, I’m minded to close this complaint informally.”
