National Offender Management Service

The complainant requested information from the public authority about incidents involving Islamic extremists in prisons. The public authority replied that section 31(1)(f) (maintenance of security and good order in prisons) must be considered and that it extended the time limit in order to assess the public interest test. The timeframe was readjusted on four separate occasions. The Commissioner finds a delay of over ten months in carrying out a public interest determination to be in breach of section 17(3)(b). The Commissioner has also found two breaches of section 10(1). The public authority is required within 35 calendar days to comply fully with its obligations under section 1(1) of the Act for each part of the request.