Information Commissioner's Office

Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire

8 September 2016, Police and criminal justice

The complainant requested information from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire (‘OPCCW’) about a police investigation.  OPCCW provided some of the information but withheld the remainder citing sections 31(1)(g), law enforcement, 40(2), personal information and 42 (legal professional privilege). The Commissioner has decided that OPCCW should have instead relied on the ‘neither confirm nor deny’ provision in section 40 of FOIA in response to this request. The reasons for this are set out in this notice. Therefore, the Commissioner’s decision is that under FOIA, OPCCW was not obliged to confirm whether or not it held the requested information on the basis of section 40(5)(a). The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken as a result of this decision.

FOI 40: Partly upheld