Information Commissioner's Office

Home Office

4 October 2016, Central government

The complainant has requested information about asylum claims based on the grounds of sexual orientation. The Home Office provided some information in respect of the first part of the request, and withheld the information requested at the second part, citing the exemption at section 22 (information intended for future publication). It subsequently withdrew its application of that exemption and said that the information could be disclosed, albeit with redactions to remove personal data. However, it subsequently failed to make any such disclosure. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office failed to respond to the second part of the request in accordance with the FOIA and in so doing breached sections 1(1) and 10(1) of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the Home Office to issue a fresh response to the complainant in respect of the second part of the request, which is compliant with Part 1 of the FOIA.

FOI 1: Upheld FOI 10: Upheld