Information Commissioner's Office

Department for Work and Pensions

23 October 2017, Central government

The complainant has requested information from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about organisations participating in a specific work placement scheme, and more generally any organisation participating in a “work for your benefit” placement. The DWP has refused to comply with the request, relying on section 12 – cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit.The Commissioner’s decision is that DWP is entitled to rely on section 12 in this case. However, she does not consider that DWP has provided the complainant with any advice or assistance which may have assisted in refining the request and she therefore considers that DWP has breached section 16. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Provide advice and assistance to enable the complainant to submit a refined request within the cost limit. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.

FOI 12: Not upheld FOI 16: Upheld