Cabinet Office

The complainant has requested copies of all messages sent between Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain between 22 May 2020 and 28 May 2020. The Cabinet Office refused the request under section 12(1)(cost of compliance with the request).
The Commissioner has concluded that the Cabinet Office was not entitled to rely on section 12 as its basis for refusing to respond to the request, as the estimate of time required was not reasonable.
The Commissioner requires the Cabinet Office to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:
• Carry out checks and searches of information held in official records for any information held within the short time period of the complainant’s request (22 May 2020 to 28 May 2020) and provide the complainant with a revised response to his request.
The Cabinet Office must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.