Ministry of Justice
- Date 12 July 2022
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 21: Not upheld, FOI 40(5B): Not upheld
The complainant has requested information from the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) relating to the qualifications of a specific individual. The Legal Aid Agency is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The Commissioner’s decision is that MOJ correctly applied section 40(5B) FOIA in its initial response to neither confirm nor deny (NCND) that it held information within the scope of the request. He also finds MOJ was entitled to rely on section 21. However, the Commissioner finds MOJ breached section 17(1) FOIA as it took longer than 20 working days to inform the complainant that it was relying on an exemption. As a substantive response has now been provided the Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps as a result of this decision notice.