Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire
- Date 22 August 2017
- Sector Police and criminal justice
- Decision(s) FOI 10: Upheld, FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 31: Not upheld, FOI 45: Not upheld
The complainant has requested the report of an investigation conducted by Lancashire Constabulary at the request of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner into certain allegations made against a former Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police; he also requested associated emails. The Information Commissioner decided that the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner has applied the section 31(1)(c) FOIA (law enforcement) exemption correctly. In the light of her findings in relation to section 31 FOIA, the Commissioner did not proceed to consider application by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner of other FOIA exemptions cited. The Information Commissioner decided that in delaying a substantive response the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner had breached section 10(1) FOIA (time for compliance) and section 17(1) FOIA (refusal of request). She further decided that the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner had not breached the section 45(1) FOIA code of practice in carrying out its internal review of the matter. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further steps to comply with the legislation. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2017/0186 dismissed.