Secretary of State for Defence (Ministry of Defence)

The complainant submitted a request to the Ministry of Defence seeking information about a specific RAF flight that was alleged to have taken place in July 2025. The MOD initially responded by saying that it held information in the scope of the request but this was exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 24 (national security) and 26 (defence) of FOIA. The MOD subsequently amended its position to state that it did not hold any information in the scope of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that on the balance of probabilities the MOD does not hold any information falling within the scope of this request. However, the MOD breached section 10(1) as it failed to inform the complainant within 20 working days that it did not hold the requested information.