North East London NHS Trust

The complainant has requested from North East London NHS Foundation Trust (“NELFT”) information about aspects of its mental health treatment services. NELFT refused to provide the requested information, citing section 12(1) of the FOIA – that the cost of complying would exceed the appropriate limit for compliance. The Commissioner’s decision is that NELFT has correctly cited section 12(1) and provided advice and assistance to the complainant in line with its duty under section 16(1) of the FOIA as far as it was reasonable to expect the public authority to do so. However, NELFT breached section 10(1) of the FOIA by not responding within the statutory time for compliance. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further steps. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2020/0291 struck out.