Summary: The complainant has requested information about correspondence on a specific subject between Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) and other parties for the previous twelve months. The Information Commissioner-™s decision is that the OFMDFM failed to comply with section 1(1)(a) promptly and within the statutory timelines for handling the request and in so doing breached section 10(1) of the FOIA. The Information Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: write to the complainant to confirm whether it holds the information and then disclose that information or issue a valid refusal notice under section 17 of the FOIA.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld