Information Commissioner's Office

Portadown College

16 September 2015, Education (College)

The complainant has requested copies of speeches made by the Chair of Governors and Principal at Portadown College (the College) on a particular speech day. The College stated it did not physically hold the requested information and considered that any relevant information held by the Chair and Principal would not be subject to FOIA. The Commissioner disagrees and considers that any material in the possession of the Chair and Principal that fell within the request description would in principle be covered by the legislation. He therefore requires the College to issue a fresh response which doesn’t state that the information is not held by the College for the purposes of FOIA. 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