Information Commissioner's Office

National Police Chiefs’ Council

24 May 2017, Police and criminal justice

The complainant has requested referral forms for proposed projects with Bahrain. The National Police Chief’s Council did not comply with the request, citing section 14(2) (repeated request) of FOIA. During the Commissioner’s investigation, the National Police Chiefs’ Council confirmed that it was no longer relaying on section 14(2) of FOIA. The NPCC subsequently confirmed that it was withholding the information under section 27 (International relations) of the FOIA. The NPCC’s application of section 27 will be dealt with in a separate decision notice. The complainant indicated that he still wanted a decision notice as he wanted to know how often a request could be submitted to a public authority. Given that the National Police Chiefs’ Council dropped its reliance on section 14(2), the Commissioner will not consider its application any further. However, she has considered the length of time taken to deal with the request and the complainant’s query regarding how often a request can be submitted. The Commissioner’s decision is that the National Police Chiefs’ Council has breached sections 17(1) (request for information) and 10(1) (time for compliance) of the FOIA. The Commissioner does not require the National Police Chiefs’ Council to take any steps as a result of this decision.

FOI 10: Upheld FOI 17: Upheld