Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Commissioner’s decision is that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is entitled to rely on section 12(1) of FOIA to refuse the request for correspondence about the transfer of SeAH Steel Holdings monopile factory as complying with it would exceed the appropriate cost limit. However, DLUHC didn’t comply with its obligation under section 16(1), which concerns advice and assistance. The Commissioner requires DLUHC to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: In line with section 16(1) of FOIA, either indicate to the complainant the terms of a refined request for information with which DLUHC might be able to comply within the cost limit or confirm to them that the current request can’t be meaningfully refined.