Home Office

The complainant made a request for information relating to the document titled “Sovereign Borders: International Asylum Comparisons Report”. The Home Office refused to provide the information citing sections 21(1) of FOIA for Section 1 of the report and section 35(1)(a) and 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) of FOIA for the remaining sections of the report. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office was entitled to rely on section 35(1)(a) of FOIA in respect of the withheld information. The Commissioner has also considered the Home Office’s delay in providing a response and has found that the Home Office failed to complete its deliberations on the balance of the public interest within a reasonable time and has therefore breached section 17(3) of FOIA. The Commissioner does not require further steps.