Information Commissioner's Office

Department for Work and Pensions

12 August 2015, Central government

The complainant requested information about managers working for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with responsibility for the London area. The DWP responded with some held information but withheld some under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) as it was third party personal data. During the course of the investigation the DWP located further relevant information and provided the information withheld under section 40(2). The Commissioner’s decision is that the DWP has not provided the complainant with all of the information it holds that comes within the scope of his request. In doing so it has breached section 1 of the Act. Additionally, the DWP failed to respond within the required timeframe to an additional request made by the complainant in the course of requesting an internal review. This is a breach of section 10 of the Act, but as the response has been provided the Commissioner does not require any steps in relation to that request. The Commissioner requires the public authority to issue a new response which accounts for the further information the DWP holds in relation to items 1 and 2 of the complainant’s request. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court

FOI 1: Upheld FOI 10: Upheld FOI 40: Upheld