Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant made an information request in several parts. The Commissioner investigated his request for an expert witness report which had been provided to Wiltshire Police on the effects in humans of Pyrexal, a lethal substance. The request repeated a substantially similar request by the complainant in 2005 and which had been refused by the Police in 2009 on the grounds that it was a repeat request. The Commissioner decided that the Police had satisfied section 17(5) of the Act. The complainant had been made aware of his appeal routes in 2005 but had not made use of them prior to repeating his request in 2009. The content of the information had not changed in the interim but there had been material developments in the meantime such that a reasonable interval of time had elapsed. The Commissioner therefore decided that the Police did not deal with the request in accordance with the requirements of section 1(1) of the Act, in that they inappropriately applied section 14(2) to justify non-compliance. He required the Police either to provide the information requested or issue a valid refusal notice, with reasons for refusal, including an analysis of the balance of the public interest, as matters stood at the time of the second request on October 2009.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 14 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Not upheld