Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant made a request for information concerning the costs to the Royal Mail of maintaining the Postcode Address File (PAF), and the geographic coordinates of each code as contained in the PostZon product. Royal Mail Group PLC responded on the twentieth working day stating that the information requested was being withheld under section 43(2) of the Act. The complainant requested an internal review of that decision. This was provided on the fortieth working day after the request. Royal Mail Group PLC upheld the use of section 43(2) and also applied section 41 to the request. It also disclosed a limited amount of information to the complainant. Following a further exchange of correspondence, and more than eight months after receiving his initial request, Royal Mail Group PLC disclosed further costs information to the complainant. The Commissioner has concluded that Royal Mail Group PLC responded within the time for compliance. However, he finds that it was in breach of section 1(1)(b) by not disclosing the partial information to the complainant in either its original response to his request, or its internal review decision. The Commissioner also finds that Royal Mail Group PLC was in breach of section 10(1) in not providing the partial information within the statutory time limit.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld