Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) seeking the number of British nationals assisted by the FCO with any sexual crimes in various Caribbean countries. For each incident, the complainant also sought the date it took place, the nature of the incident, the specific location of the incident (eg inside a resort), as well as the age and sex of each victim. The FCO directed the complainant to online data it had published about the number of individuals it had assisted in 2018. However, it argued that the remaining information falling within the scope of his request was exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 40(2) (personal data) of FOIA. The Commissioner has concluded that the FCO is entitled to rely on section 40(2) of FOIA to withhold this information.