Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested the numbers of vehicles removed and the number of fixed penalty notices issued at a specified location at Heathrow Airport since the introduction of the Heathrow Airport (Terminal Three Departures Forecourt) Experimental Traffic Order 2008. The public authority refused to confirm or deny whether it held information falling within the scope of the request on the basis of the pattern of policing that it believed would be revealed as a result and cited the exemption provided by section 31(3) (prejudice to law enforcement). The Commissioner does not accept that confirmation or denial would reveal anything about policing and so concludes that the exemption provided by section 31(3) is not engaged. The public authority is required to confirm or deny whether it holds information falling within the scope of the request. In relation to any information that is held, the public authority is required to either disclose this, or provide a reason valid under the Act for why this information will not be disclosed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 31 - Complaint Upheld