Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested copies of any reports that the public authority had drawn up in respect of a particular inquiry. He also advised that if it refused to disclose any reports he would like some statistical information. The public authority confirmed it held some relevant information but withheld it all under the exemptions in sections 30(1) and (2) (investigations and proceedings by public authorities) of the Freedom of Information Act (-�the Act-�). During the Commissioner-�s investigation the public authority released the requested statistical information and confirmed that the only reports it held at the time of his request were files which had been prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). At a late stage of the investigation the public authority further advised that the CPS files had not in fact been drawn up by itself but had been compiled by another police force. It therefore told the complainant that it actually held no further information within the scope of his request. In failing to correctly advise the complainant that it held no relevant reports the Commissioner finds that the public authority breached sections 1(1)(a) and 10(1). The complaint is therefore partially upheld.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld