Information Commissioner's Office

Bank of England

3 March 2016, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the public authority for the number of cyber security incidents at the authority, the total number of times that the authority had engaged named specialist cyber security firms, and the total amount spent on their services, over a specified period. The Commissioner’s decision is that; in relation to Part 1 of the request, the public authority was entitled to rely on section 31(3) FOIA as the basis for not complying with the duty to confirm or deny whether it held the information requested. The public authority was also entitled to withhold information within the scope of Part 2 of the request on the basis of the exemption at section 31(1)(a) FOIA. No steps are required.

FOI 31: Not upheld