Home Office

The complainant made a multi-part request for information to the Home Office, including requesting, at part (3) of the request, any information held by Border Force relating to three named individuals. The Home Office cited section 12 (cost of compliance) in respect of part (1) of the request and denied holding any information in scope of part (2) of the request. It neither confirmed nor denied holding the information requested at part (3) of the request, citing section 40(5) (personal information) of the FOIA as its basis for doing so. The Commissioner has investigated the Home Office’s handling of part (3) of the request. Her decision is that the Home Office was entitled to rely on section 40(5)(b)(i) to refuse to confirm or deny whether it held the information requested at that part of the request. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken as a result of this decision.