7 March 2016, Central government
The complainant has requested information about advocacy letters and correspondence to and from HRH the Prince of Wales relating to the statutory listing of buildings. The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has stated that it does not hold the requested information. The Commissioner’s position is that DCMS, on the balance of probabilities, does not hold the requested information and finds that it should have cited the exception at EIR Regulation 12(4)(a) rather than advising the complainant that the information is not held in order to discharge is duty under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The response to the request was issued outside of the statutory 20 day time limit and therefore DCMS has breached Regulation 14(2) EIR. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps.
EIR 12(4)(a): Not upheld EIR 14(2): Upheld