Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The complainant submitted a three part request to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) seeking information about a British national being held in Bangladeshi. The FCO provided some information falling within the scope of part 1 of the request but sought to withhold the further information it held on the basis of section 40(2) (personal data) of FOIA. With regard to parts 2 and 3 of the request the FCO refused to confirm or deny whether it held any information on the basis of section 40(5) of FOIA. The Commissioner has concluded that the FCO can rely on sections 40(2) and 40(5) in the manner in which it has. However, she has also concluded that the FCO breached section 17(1) by failing to issue its refusal notice within 20 working days of the request. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2019/0092 dismissed.