Home Office

The complainant made a request about information ‘leaks’ and outcomes of related disciplinary action which occurred within the Home Office (“the public authority”) during 2007. This included information about a specific incident which appeared in the press. The public authority originally sought to neither confirm nor deny that it held any information under section 31(3) and 36(3). During the Commissioner’s investigation, some information was disclosed, some was found to be not held and some further information was accepted by the complainant as being properly exempt. Consequently, section 31(3) no longer applied to any withheld information. The Commissioner’s decision is to uphold the exemption at section 36(3) in relation to any remaining information which may or may not be held. The public authority’s handling of the request resulted in procedural breaches of sections 1(1), 10(1), 17(1) and 17(3). The complaint is partly upheld.