Information Commissioner's Office

Home Office

5 May 2015, Central government

The complainant requested information relating to litigation he had taken against the Home Office. The Home Office stated that it did not hold some of this information. In relation to other parts of the request it now states that it should have asked the complainant to clarify his request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office stated correctly that it did not hold some of the information requested. However, the Commissioner has also found that the Home Office breached section 16(1) of the FOIA through a failure to comply with its duty to provide advice and assistance and section 17(5) by failing to specify in correspondence with the complainant a provision that it later cited. 

FOI 16: Partly upheld FOI 17: Partly upheld