Department for Work and Pensions

The complainant has requested information relating to the sender and recipients of emails archived by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). DWP refused to comply with request on the grounds of cost and relied on section 12(1) of the Act. The Commissioner’s decision is that DWP is entitled to rely on section 12(1) of the Act to refuse to comply with the request. The Commissioner considers, however, that DWP did not fulfil its obligations under section 16 of the Act. The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with adequate advice and assistance to aid meaningful refining of the request. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.