Khalsa Academies Trust Limited

1.    Commissioner’s Decision: 
A public authority will breach section 10 of FOIA if it fails to respond to a request within 20 working days. 
The Trust responded to the complainant’s request on 1 August 2022, refusing to provide information on the grounds that the request was ‘manifestly unfounded and excessive.’ It did not cite any exemptions, and  the terminology used does not exist within FOIA.
The complainant requested an internal review on 1 August 2022, which the Trust refused to provide.
Unfortunately, due to a change in the Commissioner’s staff, there was a significant delay in progressing the case, for which the Commissioner has apologised to the complainant and the public authority and has agreed to progress the original request with the public authority in accordance with FOIA as outlined below.
Section 1 of FOIA requires a public authority to inform a requestor in writing as to whether it holds the information they are requesting and, if so, to make it available to them subject to any exemptions which may apply.
Section 10 of FOIA requires a public authority to provide a response in compliance with section 1 within 20 working days of receipt of the request.
Section 17 of FOIA requires a public authority to provide a valid refusal notice if it is refusing to disclose information in response to a request.
Based on evidence available to the Commissioner, by the date of this notice the public authority has not issued a valid and substantive response under FOIA to this request. Therefore the Commissioner finds a breach of sections 1, 10 and 17 of FOIA.