Home Office
- Date 1 March 2022
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 31: Not upheld, FOI 43: Not upheld
The complainant has requested, from the Home Office, information about aerial surveillance of migrants. The Home Office provided a copy of a contact, withholding some content under sections 40(2) (Personal information) and 43(2) (Commercial interests) of FOIA. At a late stage, it added reliance in sections 31(1)(a) (Prejudice to prevention or detection of crime) and section 31(1)(e) (Prejudice to operation of the immigration controls) of FOIA.
The Commissioner’s decision is that a late disclosure of information satisfied section 40 so this was not considered. He also found that the Home Office was entitled to rely on sections 43(2) and 31(1)(a) and (e) to withhold the remaining information. The Commissioner does not require the Home Office to take any steps.