There hasn't been much activity since our last round-up of Decision Notices. Here's a summary:
- Dr P Bowbrick. The previous Decision Notice was wrong and the ICO replaced it with a new one. The new Decision Notice ordered the local authority to disclose various documents. The ICO also found that the local authority in question failed to comply with its FOIA duties by not within 20 days of Dr Bowbrick's request, disclosing requested (and not exempt) information, confirming that the information existed, and identifying the exemption it was relying on to refuse disclosure.
- Mr C M Hogan & Oxford City Council. The Tribunal upheld the ICO's decision that Oxford City Council had failed: (1) to provide advice and assistance - basically Oxford didn't respond to Mr Hogan's request even when the request was narrowed (2) to provide a valid refusal notice - the refusal didn't explain why the exemption relied on applied or discuss the competing public interests (3) to correctly apply the section 31 law enforcement exemption - some of the requested information was not exempt, but Oxford didn't disclose that information.
- Dr Christopher Lamb. This was to do with a request for information about legal advice to the government in the run-up to the latest Iraq war. Dr Lamb's made a request for information to the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office decided it didn't hold the requested information because the request lacked clarity. The ICO had upheld this decision. The Tribunal decided that the Cabinet Office should have asked Dr Lamb to clarify his request to identify the precise information requested, and ask relevant questions if necessary to ascertain the precise nature of Dr Lamb's request.
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