Legal Ombudsman

The complainant has requested the Legal Ombudsman (LO) to disclose copies of all documents relating to his claim in 2013 against Hallow Associates, copies of telephone conversation and copies of all other files in respect of complaints made by others between 2013 and 2018. Part of the request was dealt with under the Data Protection Act (DPA). LO disclosed some information in relation to question 2 of the request but failed to address the remainder. Those remaining elements were addressed during the Commissioner’s investigation and LO applied sections 40(1) and 40(2). For question 4, it stated that the information is not held. The Commissioner’s decision is that LO is entitled to rely on both sections 40(1) and 40(2) of FOIA. Regarding question 4, the Commissioner is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities LO does not hold the requested information. He has however recorded a breach of section 10 and 17 of FOIA as a result of how the request was handled. The Commissioner does not require any further action to be taken.