Humberside Police

The complainant has requested information from Humberside Police (“the public authority”), in relation to a phone call made to its call centre. The public authority refused to provide the information, relying on section 40(2) of FOIA - personal information and section 31 of FOIA – Law Enforcement. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority has correctly relied on section 40(2) of FOIA to withhold some of the information. He also considers that the public authority was entitled to rely on section 31 of FOIA to withhold some of the information. However, he considers that the remaining information is not covered by either exemption. The Commissioner has however, found that the public authority didn’t comply with section 10(1) of FOIA, as it did not provide a response within the statutory timeframe. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
• Provide the complainant with a copy of the call log, with the exception of the information specified in the confidential annex.
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.