Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

The complainant submitted an information request to Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust (the trust) requesting a specific policy and the rationale for changes to it. The trust initially responded to the request but later stated that it was causing harassment and distress to its staff.

The Commissioner’s decision is that the request was vexatious and therefore the trust was entitled to rely upon section 14(1) (vexatious requests) of FOIA to refuse it. However, in failing to issue a refusal notice, relying upon section 14, the trust breached section 17(5) (refusal of request) of FOIA.

The Commissioner does not require further steps as a result of this decision notice.