Department of Energy and Climate Change

The complainant has requested correspondence and emails exchanged between the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and [named individual]. The DECC said that section 35 and section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) were applicable however it required further time to consider the public interest in this case and therefore to determine whether or not the requested information should be withheld or disclosed. The DECC has still not provided the complainant with a full refusal notice nor has it disclosed the requested information. Although DECC has complied with section 17(1) in stating which exemption is being relied upon, it has failed to comply with section 17(3) by failing to communicate the outcome of the public interest consideration within a reasonable time. The Commissioner’s decision is that DECC has breached section 10(1) of FOIA as it has not provided the complainant with a full refusal notice within the statutory time for compliance. The Commissioner requires the public authority to either provide a response to the complainant which complies with section 1(1) of FOIA or issue a full refusal notice including public interest considerations as required under section 17(1) of FOIA.