Department for Work and Pensions

The complainant has requested statistics relating to the managed migration of benefit claimants to Universal Credit. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has breached section 16(1) of FOIA as the request did not have a single objective reading and DWP did not seek clarification of the request under section 1(3) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires DWP to provide the complainant with advice and assistance by requesting clarification of the request. The public authority must take these steps within 30 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.