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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued Derby City Council with an enforcement notice after evidence showed “widespread and persistent delays” in the local authority’s handling of freedom of information requests, with some outstanding requests dating back to 2022. The Commissioner became aware of concerns regarding the council's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) following information provided about the council's timeliness in responding to FOI requests and the scale of its outstanding caseload. The council provided information about its performance for FOI requests due between 1 January 2026 and 24 July 2026. Of those requests, 226 were completed on time, representing 29% of the total; 90 were completed outside the statutory timeframe, representing...
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The First-tier Tribunal has refused an application to certify that the London Borough of Haringey was in contempt of court after the council disclosed information 17 days after the deadline set by the Tribunal in a freedom of information case. Judge Armstrong-Holmes found that the council’s failure to comply with the ordered deadline for disclosure was a breach capable of constituting a contempt. However, the judge decided not to exercise her discretion to certify the matter and send it to the Upper Tribunal. The appeal concerned requests for information made under the Freedom of Information Act. A Tribunal decision issued in January 2025 resulted in a substituted decision notice requiring the disclosure of “appropriately unredacted” information. Haringey subsequently applied for...
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The Upper Tribunal has held that First-tier and Upper Tribunals are not bound by precedent to automatically reject the limited right to receive information under article 10 (“Freedom of Expression”) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) recognised by the Grand Chamber in Magyar Helsinki Bizottság v Hungary departing from the 2020 decision in Moss v Information Commissioner ( that had led tribunals to dismiss such arguments for six years. In a case (Cruelty Free International v Information Commissioner and Home Office [2026] UKUT 328 (AAC)) brought by animal welfare campaign group Cruelty Free International (CFI), a three-judge panel of Lady Poole, Upper Tribunal Judge Citron and Upper Tribunal Judge Brewer found that CFI’s article 10 rights had been violated by the Home...
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DfE "acting in concert" argument on repeated requests rejected as campaigner's appeals fail
The First-tier Tribunal has dismissed three appeals brought by campaigner Dr Robert Abrahart against the Department for Education, upholding two findings that his requests were vexatious under section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and confirming in the third that emails withheld under sections 35 and 42 were exempt, while rejecting the department's attempt to treat requests from co-campaigners as repeated requests under section 14(2). Judge Saward, sitting with tribunal members Scott and Shaw, heard the three appeals together over two days in May 2026 but issued separate decisions on 25 August: [2026] UKFTT 1220 (GRC), [2026] UKFTT 1221 (GRC)[2026] UKFTT 1221 (GRC) and [2026] UKFTT 1222 (GRC). Dr Abrahart appeared in person, the Information Commissioner did not attend,...
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ICO's mid-complaint change of Article 6 basis does not reopen section 166 route, tribunal rules
The First-tier Tribunal has struck out an application under section 166 of the Data Protection Act 2018 after finding that the Information Commissioner's October 2024 outcome letter was a valid outcome even though the ICO subsequently changed its view on the lawful basis for the processing complained of. In Warner v Information Commissioner [2026] UKFTT 1198 (GRC), Judge Armstrong-Holmes granted the Commissioner's strike-out application under Rule 8(2) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009, holding that the tribunal had no jurisdiction. The Commissioner did not attend the hearing on 14 August 2026 and relied on written submissions. Roy Warner, the applicant, appeared in person. Warner complained to the ICO on 11 June 2024 about Waddesdon...
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The Information Commissioner has ordered Bristol City Council to disclose an internal audit report into Stepping Up, a Community Interest Company, after finding that the council's reliance on section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act was based on a qualified person's opinion that was too generic to be reasonable. In a decision notice dated 20 May 2026 (IC-415528-V6Y5), the Commissioner found that neither limb of section 36(2)(b) was engaged and gave the council 30 calendar days to communicate the report to the complainant, redacting personal data (including the names and job titles of the key witnesses listed in the report) under section 40(2). Failure to comply may be certified to the High Court and dealt with as contempt of court under section 54. The request, made in June 2025,...
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The First-tier Tribunal has struck down an Information Commissioner's decision notice ordering the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to disclose parts of its Hammersmith Bridge business case, ruling the notice was void for uncertainty because neither the Commissioner nor the council had identified which information in the 244-page document was already in the public domain. The Tribunal determined the appeal on the papers, and substituted its own notice requiring the council, within 28 days, to: - identify and disclose any parts of the Outline Business Case, or information contained in it, which the council publishes or has previously published on its own websites, past or present; - identify and disclose any parts of the OBC included in public reports or papers produced by the...
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High Court upholds Met Police 90-day WhatsApp auto-deletion policy despite ICO concerns
The High Court has dismissed a judicial review challenge to Metropolitan Police guidance requiring officers to activate WhatsApp's disappearing messages function on force-issued devices, upholding the lawfulness of a policy that automatically deletes conversations after 90 days despite documented concerns from the Information Commissioner's Office and the force's own data protection impact assessment. Mr Justice McKendrick, handing down judgment on 31 July following a two-day hearing in May, rejected all four grounds advanced by the claimant, an anonymised defendant awaiting trial in the Crown Court whose case was investigated in part through WhatsApp exchanges between the officer in the case and the complainant. The claimant argued that the guidance: - authorises unlawful conduct by...
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The First-tier Tribunal has ordered Cheshire East Council to disclose the permitted numbers of animals on its dog breeding and pet selling licences, overturning an Information Commissioner decision that the figures could be withheld under the law enforcement exemption because of the risk of dog theft. In Martina Hogg v Information Commissioner [2026] UKFTT 01113 (GRC), a panel found that section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was not engaged at all, meaning the public interest balance never fell to be considered. A substituted decision notice requires the council to disclose the information within 28 days. Hogg had asked the council in February 2024 for copies of all its current dog breeding and pet selling licences. Following an internal review, the council disclosed...
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Tribunal upholds Cabinet Office refusal to confirm whether ministers declared criminal convictions
The First-tier Tribunal has upheld, by a majority, the Cabinet Office's refusal to confirm or deny whether any serving government ministers declared criminal convictions during their appointment process, dismissing an appeal brought by Times journalist George Greenwood while ruling that the Information Commissioner erred in law by treating the relevant exemption as absolute rather than qualified. The panel, chaired by Judge Cragg KC sitting with tribunal members Raz Edwards and Kerry Pepperell, heard the appeal on 13 May 2026, with the decision promulgated on 23 July. Greenwood's request, made on 5 December 2024 in the wake of Louise Haigh's resignation as Transport Secretary over an undisclosed fraud conviction, asked whether any current ministers had declared a criminal conviction...
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Section 166 application succeeds as tribunal finds ICO left complaints unresolved
The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has ordered the Information Commissioner to take further steps and issue a written outcome on a data protection complaint after finding that the regulator invited the complainant to return if dissatisfied with the department's response, received her further material but then did not demonstrate that it had concluded the complaints. In Dhanwantee Hooper v The Information Commissioner [2026] UKFTT 1102 (GRC), Tribunal Judge Peri Mornington allowed an application under s.166(2) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and directed the Commissioner, within 28 days, to take further appropriate steps to respond to the complaints and to provide the applicant with a written outcome. Section 165 of the DPA 2018 gives data subjects the right to complain...
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Tribunal rejects Cleveland Police blanket withholding of child protection guidance
The First-tier Tribunal has partly overturned an Information Commissioner's decision allowing Cleveland Police to withhold the entirety of its Child Protection Guidance, ruling that the force was not entitled to refuse the whole document under the law enforcement exemption and ordering disclosure of a redacted version that reveals the majority of its contents. The panel issued a substituted decision notice requiring the force to disclose the redacted guidance under FOIA within 14 days. Armstrong's request, made in November 2024 in the context of investigations into historic abuse at a named detention centre, sought Cleveland Police's policies and procedures on: - vetting of all staff members; - the training of staff working on a child sex abuse investigation; and - how a major...
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IPT awards damages against MI5 for first time over surveillance of journalist's phone data
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) has ordered MI5 and the Police Service of Northern Ireland to pay £10,000 each in damages to former BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney, after finding that a series of communications data authorisations targeting him between 2006 and 2014 were not in accordance with the law and disproportionate, in breach of his rights under Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Kearney, now northern editor at RTÉ, described the ruling as "a tremendous victory for journalism" and said it was the first time MI5 had been ordered to pay damages to a journalist. "The IPT does not normally award damages, and that was never the purpose of this case," he said. "The aim was always to bring into the public domain the...
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The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has ordered the Ministry of Justice to disclose the reasoning behind the compensation award made to the family of Timothy Evans, ruling that the conclusions of a statutory assessor exercising a public function do not constitute his personal data under Article 4(1) UK GDPR. Allowing an appeal brought by Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber, a panel chaired by Judge Cragg KC set aside the Information Commissioner's decision notice and substituted a decision requiring disclosure of paragraphs 14 to 20 of the assessment prepared by Lord Brennan KC, who in 2003 recommended a £250,000 award as Independent Assessor under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Evans was wrongfully executed in 1950 for murders committed by John Christie....
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Polite, one-off request can still be vexatious where motive is personal, First-tier Tribunal rules
The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has upheld the refusal of a freedom of information request to a special educational needs school as vexatious under section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, finding that a polite, factual and non-burdensome request could still amount to a misuse of the Act where its motive was the pursuit of a case against a named individual while criticising the Information Commissioner for relying on undisclosed allegations the requester had no opportunity to rebut. Dismissing an appeal by Jonathan Samuel against a decision notice of April 2025, a panel comprising Judge Harris and members Scott and Shaw found that two of the four Dransfield factors - burden and harassment - were not made out, but that the factors of motive and value...
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The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has upheld the Northern Ireland Office's refusal to disclose aggregate application and expenditure figures for its Home Protection Scheme, finding that even high-level statistical data could contribute to a "mosaic" of information capable of assisting terrorists in assessing the protection afforded to police officers and other public servants. Dismissing an appeal by Des Moore against a decision notice of the Information Commissioner, a panel chaired by Judge Mornington, sitting with members Chafer and Yates, concluded that withholding the information was reasonably necessary for the purpose of safeguarding national security under section 24(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and that the public interest favoured maintaining...
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The First-tier Tribunal has overturned an Information Commissioner's finding that the Department for Work and Pensions held no further information about how claimants were selected for Universal Credit managed migration, but ruled that the requester will receive nothing more because the cost of extracting the material would exceed the limit under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 despite neither the department nor the Commissioner had relied on this exemption. In Lotz v The Information Commissioner and the Department for Work and Pensions [2026] UKFTT 1014 (GRC), a panel comprising Judge Marks CBE and members Saunders and Wolf allowed the appeal and issued a substitute decision notice recording that the DWP holds information within the scope of the request but is not...
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Tribunal backs ICO over Humberside Police's "unreasonably restricted" 101 call recording request
The First-tier Tribunal has dismissed an appeal by a requester who argued the Information Commissioner did not go far enough in a decision notice finding that Humberside Police had "unreasonably restricted the scope" of a freedom of information request about the recording of 101 calls. In Mark Armstrong v The Information Commissioner [2026] UKFTT 1011 (GRC), Mr Armstrong asked Humberside Police in November 2024 for "all information" held on the tape recording of 101 calls from members of the public, clarifying that this should include the legislation permitting the practice, information on retention and deletion, the force's own policies and procedures, and confirmation or denial that all incoming 101 calls are recorded. The force refused the first three parts under section 21 of the...
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The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has dismissed an appeal against the Information Commissioner's finding that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not hold a copy of a 1955 certificate awarded on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II to a member of the Haud Constabulary in colonial-era Somaliland, concluding on the balance of probabilities that no in-scope information was held even though the department might once - and perhaps should - have held it. in Abdulrizak Abdi Yusuf v The Information Commissioner [2026] UKFTT 984 (GRC), the tribunal decided the appeal on the papers in a decision given on 2 July 2026, found that the FCDO's searches were sensible and reasonably directed to locating the requested information, and that the appellant's arguments about the...
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The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has upheld the Information Commissioner's reliance on section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to refuse a request about a parish council's data protection registration, finding that the request formed part of a campaign of harassment against the council even though the appellant claimed the requesting history relied on belonged not to him but to his son, who lives at the same address and shares his name. The tribunal of Judge Hughes, Marion Palmer-Dunk and Emma Yates, deciding the appeal after a hearing on 15 June 2026, held that it did not need to resolve whether one or two individuals were behind the correspondence, because a request can be vexatious under section 14(1) where a requester acts in concert with another...
