Changeflow GovPing Data Privacy & Cybersecurity ICO Decision Notice: FOI Partly Upheld
Priority review Enforcement Amended Final

ICO Decision Notice: FOI Partly Upheld

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Filed March 12th, 2026
Detected March 17th, 2026
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Summary

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) issued a decision notice regarding a Freedom of Information request made to the London Borough of Southwark. The ICO partly upheld the request, finding the Council holds some information and failed to demonstrate it does not hold information for another part. The Council must issue a fresh response within 30 days.

What changed

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a decision notice (Ref: IC-390151-W3V4) concerning a Freedom of Information (FOI) request directed at the London Borough of Southwark. The ICO determined that the Council does not hold information regarding the merging of Rye Hill Park and Rye Hill Estate but does hold information evidencing Rye Hill Park is part of Rye Hill Estate. Crucially, the ICO found the Council failed to demonstrate it does not hold information within the scope of part 2 of the request.

The Council is required to issue a fresh response to both parts of the request within 30 calendar days of the decision notice date (12 March 2026). Failure to comply with this notice may result in the ICO certifying the non-compliance to the High Court, potentially leading to contempt of court proceedings.

What to do next

  1. Issue a fresh response to part 1 of the FOI request, identifying all information held evidencing that Rye Hill Park is part of Rye Hill Estate.
  2. Issue a fresh response to part 2 of the FOI request, addressing the specific information requested.
  3. Ensure both fresh responses are issued within 30 calendar days of the decision notice date.

Penalties

Failure to comply may result in certification to the High Court and contempt of court proceedings.

Source document (simplified)

London Borough of Southwark

  • Date 12 March 2026
  • Sector Local government
  • Decision(s) FOI 1: Partly upheld The complainant requested information from the London Borough of Southwark (“the Council”) relating to a housing estate and the buildings within that estate. The Commissioner’s decision is that on the balance of probabilities, the Council does not hold information relating to the merging of Rye Hill Park and Rye Hill Estate but he finds that the Council does hold information which evidences that Rye Hill Park is part of Rye Hill Estate. He also finds that the Council has failed to demonstrate that on the balance of probabilities, it does not hold information within the scope of part 2 of the request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. The Council must issue a fresh response to part 1 of the request following searches aimed at identifying all information held which evidences that Rye Hill Park is part of Rye Hill Estate. The Council must issue a fresh response to part 2 of the request which addresses the specific information requested. The Council must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.

Source

Analysis generated by AI. Source diff and links are from the original.

Classification

Agency
ICO
Filed
March 12th, 2026
Compliance deadline
April 11th, 2026 (25 days)
Instrument
Enforcement
Legal weight
Binding
Stage
Final
Change scope
Substantive

Who this affects

Applies to
Government agencies
Geographic scope
gb

Taxonomy

Primary area
Public Administration
Operational domain
Compliance
Topics
Freedom of Information Local Government

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