Information Commissioner's Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

15 February 2016, Central government

The complainant has requested information from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (‘the FCO’) on files listed by the National Archives but retained by the FCO. The FCO confirmed that it holds information relevant to the requests. It repeatedly advised the complainant that it requires further time to consider the public interest test. In respect of the additional requests, made following the delays, the FCO is yet to acknowledge or respond to the complainant. To date, the FCO has failed to provide the complainant with any substantive responses. By failing to do so the Commissioner has concluded that the FCO breached section 17(3) and section 10(1) of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with substantive responses to his information requests. If the FCO decides to withhold any information then the complainant should be provided with a refusal notice giving a full explanation as to why the information will not be disclosed, including details of any public interest test considerations.

FOI 10: Upheld FOI 17: Upheld