Ministry of Defence
- Date 2 September 2013
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Upheld, FOI 17: Upheld
The complainant has requested information regarding the Ministry of Defence’s (“MoD”) policy regarding the handling of certain correspondence and whether further information regarding a case related to him was held. The MoD denied holding this information and upheld this position at internal review. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, it disclosed information of interest to the complainant which was outside the scope of his requests. However, the Commissioner has decided that the MoD should have refused to confirm or deny under section 40(5) whether it held the complainant’s personal data as described in one of his requests. In failing to do so, the MoD contravened the requirements of section 1(1) and section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act. No steps are required. Information Tribunal EA/2013/0210 dismissed.