1. The complainant requested information from the Department of Health (“DoH”) about communications with BBC Northern Ireland between 1 December 2020 and 19 February 2021.
2. The Commissioner’s decision is that the DoH were entitled to refuse to comply with the request under section 12(1) of the FOIA (cost of compliance), and that it has complied with its obligations under section 16(1) of the FOIA to provide adequate advice and assistance to the complainant. However, the DoH has breached section 10(1) FOIA as it has failed to respond within the statutory time for compliance, and has failed in its obligation to issue a refusal notice within 20 working days, and therefore breached section 17(5) of the FOIA
3. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further steps.