Information Commissioner's Office

Department for Work and Pensions

18 August 2015, Central government

The complainant requested information relating to Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The DWP denied holding any information relevant to the complainant’s request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the DWP has not responded to the complainant’s request of 25 November 2014. As the DWP has not issued a response directly to this request it has breached sections 1 and 10 of the Act. In relation to the requests of 20 September 2014 the Commissioner’s decision is that no relevant recorded information is held by the DWP. The Commissioner requires the public authority to issue a response to the complainant’s request of 25 November 2014. 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