Aston Community Education Trust

The complainant has requested meeting details from Aston Community Education Trust (ACET). ACET provided some information within the time for compliance variation applicable to a proprietor of an academy.
The Commissioner’s decision is that ACET is entitled to rely on the time for compliance variation applicable to a proprietor of an Academy. However, it breached section 1(1) of FOIA due to its failure to obtain an objective reading of the request. The Commissioner therefore also finds that ACET breached section 16(1) of FOIA by not seeking clarification from the complainant regarding the interpretation of the request.
The Commissioner requires ACET to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
• Seek clarification from the complainant regarding which meetings they wish to access information about. Then, either disclose the information or issue a refusal notice which complies with section 17 of 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 the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.