Lancashire Constabulary

The complainant requested information about the number of concerns raised under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 during a specified period. Lancashire Constabulary provided some information within the scope of the request, but said that determining whether any further information was held would exceed the cost limit (section 12(2)) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that Lancashire Constabulary has properly applied the cost exclusion. However, by responding outside the 20 working days’ time limit, Lancashire Constabulary breached section 10(1) of the FOIA. He does not require the public authority to take any remedial steps.