Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant asked the Department for Communities and Local Government (-�DCLG-�) to provide all the information it had either received or sent relating to an ongoing complaint that he had raised. The DCLG refused to provide the information on the basis that it considered that the request was vexatious. The Commissioner-�s decision is that DCLG did not demonstrate to the Commissioner that the request had been correctly refused. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: it should respond to the request by writing directly to the complainant; it should either provide the information it holds or provide a valid refusal notice relying on an exemption or exclusion under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (-�the FOIA-�) other than the vexatious exclusion; and DCLG should redact any information that would identify the complainant, such as his name, as this information will be the complainant-�s own personal data and it cannot be publicly disclosed under the FOIA.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 14 - Complaint Upheld