Metropolitan Police Service

The complainant has requested information about a police Operation from the Metropolitan Police Service (the “MPS”); to date he has not received a substantive response. The Commissioner’s decision is that, although it has complied with section 17(1) (refusal of request) of the FOIA in stating which exemption is to be relied upon, by failing to complete its public interest test considerations within a reasonable time period the MPS has breached section 17(3). She also finds that the MPS has breached section 10(1) (time for compliance) of the FOIA in failing to provide a valid response to the request within 20 working days. The Commissioner requires the MPS to issue a substantive response to the complainant’s request, either disclosing the requested information or issuing a refusal notice which includes the outcome of any public interest considerations.