Oxford City Council

The complainant has requested information about a specific complaint against officers, including employees of other another organisation. Oxford City Council originally indicated that no information was held, or was otherwise exempt from disclosure. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the Council revised its position, and informed the Commissioner that it refused to confirm or deny whether the information was held, relying on the exemption for personal information in section 40(5B) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council is entitled to rely on section 40(5B) to refuse to confirm or deny that it holds the requested information. However, by failing to issue a refusal notice to the complainant, it breached the requirement of section 17(1) of FOIA. The Commissioner does not require further steps.