Cabinet Office
- Date 8 December 2022
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 12(1): Not upheld, FOI 16: Partly upheld
The complainant has requested information relating to the review of inter-governmental relations commissioned by the Joint Ministerial Committee (“JMC”). Cabinet Office (“CO”) withheld the information and relied on section 12 of FOIA (cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit) as its basis for doing so.
The Commissioner’s decision is that CO have correctly relied on section 12 of FOIA to withhold the information. However, he also finds that CO had failed to meet its obligations under section 16 of FOIA in handling the request.
The Commissioner requires CO to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
Provide the complainant with advice and assistance as to how the request maybe refined or confirm that this would not be possible in accordance with its obligations under section 16 FOIA.
The public authority 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 FOIA and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.