Charity Commission for England and Wales

The complainant submitted a request to the Charity Commission for England and Wales (the Charity Commission) for a copy of the Reporting Serious Incidents and the correspondence associated with it, in relation to a named charity.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the Charity Commission correctly cited section 31(1)(g) (law enforcement), with subsection 31(2)(c) and (f) of FOIA to refuse to disclose the requested information, and that the public interest favoured maintaining the exemption. However, in failing to issue an appropriate refusal notice, confirming the exemption it ultimately came to rely upon, within the statutory timescale, the Charity Commission has breached 17(1) of FOIA.
The Commissioner does not require further steps, as a result of this decision notice.