Information Commissioner's Office

Insolvency Service

26 October 2015, Central government

The complainant has requested information about an investigation he believes is or was conducted by the Insolvency Service. It relied on sections 31(3) and/or 43(3) to neither confirm nor deny that the requested information was held. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Insolvency Service has not persuaded him that the aforesaid sections permit it to neither confirm nor deny it holds the information requested by the complainant. The Commissioner requires the Insolvency Service to issue a reconsidered response to the request that is compliant with the requirements of section 1 and/or section 17 but does not seek to rely on sections 31(3) and/or 43(3). 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 31: Upheld FOI 43: Upheld