Manchester City Council

The complainant requested information about the number of times Manchester City Council (the Council) had accepted a response from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The Council stated that it did not hold the information requested. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the Council acknowledged that it should have sought clarification from the complainant on receipt of the request to determine the scope of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that, in failing to seek clarification of the request under section 1(3) of the FOIA the Council breached section 16(1) of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the Council to comply with section 16 of the FOIA by seeking clarification of the complainant’s request of 15 October 2023. Once clarification has been received, the Council must respond to the complainant in accordance with the FOIA.