Home Office
- Date 24 August 2023
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 31: Partly upheld, FOI 43: Partly upheld
The complainant has requested information about asylum casework from the Home Office. The Home Office refused to provide the requested information, citing sections 43(2) (Commercial interests), 31(1)(e) (the Operation of the Immigration Controls) and 40(2) (Personal information) of FOIA.
The Commissioner’s decision is that one of the three documents caught within the scope of the request is properly withheld under sections 43 and 31 of FOIA. However, in respect of the remaining two documents, he finds that section 31 was not engaged and that section 43 only applies in respect of the name of a third party (he did not consider section 40 as this was not included in the grounds of complaint.)
The Commissioner requires the Home Office to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. With the exception of any personal information, and the name of a third party in the Annex, the Home Office must disclose the remaining information, ie the PID and Annex.