Information Commissioner's Office

Department for Work and Pensions

21 July 2016, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the public authority for the email addresses of mail handling sites, benefit centres and contact centres. The public authority explained that no email addresses are used for its mail handling sites and therefore it did not hold information relevant to that part of the request. It further explained that there were no generic email addresses specifically for benefit and contact centres but that it held individual email addresses of staff within these centres which it considered exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 36(2)(c) FOIA.  The Commissioner has concluded on the balance of probabilities that the public authority does not hold email addresses for mail handling sites. He has further concluded that the public authority was entitled to withhold individual email addresses of staff within the benefit and contact centres in reliance on the exemption at section 36(2)(c). No steps are required.

FOI 36: Not upheld