Should it be a controversy? The OP apparently feels it was an unreasonable question. There will be instances where secrecy is necessary but surely, in general, taxpayers have a right to know where their money is spent?
I refer you to my comments at post No 6:
I appreciate the right to know principle, but the issue is trying to get the balance right (between the relative importance of the information in the Public domain vs the expenditure of Public money to obtain it), and how that balance is determined
There's always the possibility that it could be another FOI request from Typhoon93 , looking ahead....
That thought had crossed my mind, too!