Ministry of Defence

The complainant requested information from the Ministry of Defence (the public authority). By the date of this notice the public authority had not issued a substantive response to this request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority has failed to complete its deliberations on the balance of the public interest test within a reasonable time frame and has therefore breached section 17(3) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: either disclose the information it has confirmed it holds, or, to the extent that information is to be withheld, issue a refusal notice in accordance with the requirements of section 17 of the FOIA. The public authority must take this step within 35 calendar days of the date of this notice.