Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Date 25 February 2019
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 27: Not upheld
The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) seeking communications between the High Commissioners of various Caribbean countries and FCO Ministers about the ‘Windrush Generation’. The FCO confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but sought to withhold this on the basis of sections 27(1)(a), (c) and 27(2) (international relations) of FOIA. The Commissioner has concluded that the information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 27(1)(a) and (c) and that in all of the circumstances of the request the public interest favours maintaining these exemptions. However, she has also concluded that the FCO breached section 17(3) of FOIA by failing to complete its public interest test considerations in a reasonable timeframe.