Charity Commission for England and Wales

The complainant has requested information relating to an allegation about a specific charity. The Charity Commission for England and Wales (the Charity Commission) refused to confirm or deny whether the requested information was held, citing section 31(3) (law enforcement) and section 41(2) (information provided in confidence) of FOIA. It later withdrew its reliance on section 41(2), citing section 40(5A) (personal information) instead to neither confirm or deny whether this information is held. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Charity Commission was correct to rely on section 31(3) of FOIA to neither confirm nor deny whether it held the requested information. The Commissioner does not require further steps.