Police Service of Northern Ireland
- Date 20 March 2019
- Sector Police and criminal justice
- Decision(s) FOI 10: Upheld, FOI 12: Not upheld, FOI 16: Not upheld, FOI 17: Upheld
The complainant requested information relating to the Northern Ireland Road Safety Partnership. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (‘PSNI’) refused to comply with the request on the basis that to do so would exceed the appropriate limit in costs set by section 12(1) (cost of compliance) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that PSNI correctly applied section 12(1) and found that there is no breach of section 16(1) (the duty to provide advice and assistance) of FOIA. However, by failing to respond to the request and issue a refusal notice within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, the Commissioner finds that PSNI has breached sections 10 (time for compliance) and 17 (refusal of a request) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken as a result of this decision.