Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested information about the name of the -�source-� of a questionnaire that had been used by the public authority. The public authority refused to disclose this information relying on section 40 of the Act. Having clarified with the complainant the scope of the request, the Commissioner has found that the public authority did not hold any recorded information at the time of the request. The public authority has therefore breached section 1(1)(a) of the Act in wrongly confirming that it held information. The Commissioner also believes that the public authority breached section 16(1) as it failed to ask for clarification when there was more than one objective meaning to the request. The public authority also failed to meet the requirements of section 17(1)(b) in failing to cite fully an exemption that it relied upon. It also failed to meet the requirements of section 17(7)(a) and (b) by failing to provide details of its appeal procedures and the right to complain to the Commissioner in its refusal notice. However, as the Commissioner has found that the public authority did not hold the requested information he requires no remedial steps to be taken in this case.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 16 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld