Northamptonshire Police FOI Complaint Upheld - Fresh Response Ordered
Summary
The ICO issued a Decision Notice finding Northamptonshire Police partially non-compliant with Freedom of Information Act obligations. The police must issue a fresh response to Q5 of the complainant's request regarding Developed Vetting information, either confirming/denying whether information is held and disclosing it or issuing a compliant refusal notice under section 17. The ICO dismissed the challenge regarding Q4 where section 21 exemption was correctly applied.
What changed
The ICO determined that Northamptonshire Police failed to comply with section 1(1) of FOIA regarding Q5 of a request about Developed Vetting of a former senior police officer. The police had correctly applied section 21(1) exemption for Q4 but failed to properly address Q5. The decision requires the force to issue a complete response to Q5, either disclosing any held information or providing a section 17 compliant refusal notice.
Public authorities subject to FOIA must ensure responses address all parts of requests and that any exemptions applied are properly documented and communicated. Failure to respond fully to all elements of a request, even when exemptions exist for some information, may result in complaints to the ICO and enforcement action requiring fresh responses.
What to do next
- Issue fresh response to Q5 of the FOI request
- Confirm or deny whether recorded information within scope is held
- Disclose information or issue section 17 compliant refusal notice
Archived snapshot
Apr 8, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Chief Constable Northamptonshire Police
- Date 1 April 2026
- Sector Police and criminal justice
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Upheld, FOI 12: Not upheld The complainant has requested information about the Developed Vetting (DV) of a former senior police officer. Northamptonshire Police confirmed that it held some information but refused to disclose it, citing section 21(1) (Information reasonably accessible to applicant by other means). The complainant disagreed with the application of the exemption and also believed that Northamptonshire Police had failed to respond to other parts of the request in accordance with FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that Northamptonshire Police was entitled to rely on section 21(1) to refuse to disclose the information requested at Q4 of the request. However, he finds that its response to Q5 was not compliant with section 1(1) (General right of access) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires Northamptonshire Police to issue a fresh response to Q5 of the request. It must confirm or deny whether it holds any recorded information within scope and, if information is held, either disclose it or issue a refusal notice which complies with section 17 of FOIA.
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