Attorney General's Office

The complainant requested information about the use of privately held email accounts by the current Home Secretary, Ms Suella Braverman, while serving as Attorney General. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) refused to comply with the request, citing sections 14(1) (vexatious request) and 12(2) (cost of compliance) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the AGO has failed to demonstrate that section 14(1) is engaged and is therefore not entitled to rely on this exemption to refuse to comply with the request. Nor has it demonstrated that section 12(2) is engaged and so is not entitled to rely on this exemption to neither confirm nor deny whether it holds the requested information. The Commissioner requires the AGO to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: issue a fresh response to the complainant that does not rely on either section 14(1) or 12(2).