Durham Constabulary
- Date 10 November 2022
- Sector Police and criminal justice
- Decision(s) FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 40: Not upheld
The complainant has requested information about a specific criminal investigation which he believed was poorly handled. Durham Constabulary (‘the Constabulary’) would neither confirm nor deny (‘NCND’) holding the requested information, citing the exemption at sections 40(5A) and (5B)(a)(i) (Personal information) of FOIA. It also argued that the NCND provisions at section 31(3) (Law enforcement) and section 38(2) (Health and safety) of FOIA applied. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Constabulary was entitled to rely on sections 40(5A) and (5B)(a)(i) to issue an NCND response to the request. However, by failing to issue a refusal notice explaining this within 20 working days of receipt of the request, the Constabulary breached section 17(1) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires no steps as a result of this decision.
Keywords: Evidence, IOPC