Information Commissioner's Office

Home Office

12 October 2017, Central government

The complainant requested information about minors being allowed into the UK and discretionary passports from the Home Office. Despite the Commissioner’s intervention, by the date of this notice the Home Office has yet to provide a substantive response to this request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office breached sections 1 and 10 of the FOIA in that it failed to provide a valid response to the request within 20 working days of receipt. She requires it to comply with the request or issue a valid refusal notice as set out in section 17 of the FOIA. The Home Office 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 1: Upheld FOI 10: Upheld