(1)  Information is exempt information if it consists of –

(a) an opinion, advice or a recommendation prepared by an officer of a public authority or a Minister; or

(b) a record of consultations or deliberations between officers of public authorities and Ministers –

in the course of, or for the purpose of, providing a Minister with a briefing in connection with the official business of a public authority, a Minister or the Government and in connection with the Minister's parliamentary duty.

(2)  Subsection (1) ceases to apply after the end of the period of 10 years commencing on the date of the creation of the information referred to in that subsection.

(3)  Subsection (1) does not include information solely because it –

(a) was submitted to a Minister for the purposes of a briefing; or

(b) is proposed to be submitted to a Minister for the purposes of a briefing –

if the information was not brought into existence for submission to a Minister for the purposes of a briefing.

(4)  Subsection (1) does not include purely factual information unless its disclosure would reveal the nature or content of the opinion, advice, recommendation, consultation or deliberations of the briefing.

(5)  Nothing in this section prevents a Minister from voluntarily disclosing information that is otherwise exempt information.