130 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 2015-44. Refusal of access to consultants’ report commissioned for use in negotiations on new agreement with the Legal Adviser to the Danish Government A journalist complained to the Ombudsman because the Agency for Modernisation had denied him access to various items of information in a report commissioned by the Agency from a consultancy company. The report was to be used in negotiations on a new agreement with the Legal Adviser to the Danish Government (Kammeradvokaten, a private law firm). The information had been exempted from access in order to protect the consultancy company from financial loss and/or to protect the Government’s economic interests. The Ombudsman did not agree with the Agency’s assessment with regard to some of the price information included in the report. He therefore recommended that the Agency make a new decision concerning that information. In a new decision, the Agency for Modernisation upheld its decision to refuse access to information on ‘best prices’. The Agency was of the opinion that the information was misleading and that if the information were to be surrendered, the Agency would have to explain the method used by the consultancy company to arrive at the prices. In the Agency’s judgement, that would involve a risk of the consultancy company suffering financial loss. The Ombudsman found that the Agency for Modernisation had no legal obligation to explain the method used by the consultancy company. In the Ombudsman’s view, the information on ‘best prices’ – which did not in itself reveal anything about the working methods used by the consultancy company – could only be exempted from access if the Agency were under such a legal obligation. The Agency for Modernisation subsequently reopened the case and made a decision to surrender the information on ‘best prices’ to the journalist.