Information Commissioner's Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

22 March 2016, Central government

The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (‘the FCO’) for copies of correspondence between the British Embassy in Riyadh and the Foreign Office in London. The FCO confirmed that it holds information relevant to the request. It repeatedly advised the complainant that it required further time to consider the public interest test. To date, the FCO has failed to provide the complainant with a substantive response. By failing to do so, the Commissioner has concluded that the FCO breached section 17(3) of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the FCO to provide the complainant with a substantive response to her information request. If the FCO decides to withhold any information then the complainant should be provided with a refusal notice giving a full explanation as to why the information will not be disclosed, including details of any public interest test consideration.

FOI 17: Upheld