London Borough of Waltham Forest - FOIA Section 10 Breach
Summary
The ICO upheld a complaint against London Borough of Waltham Forest for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information request within the statutory 20-working-day timeframe, in breach of section 10 of FOIA. The authority must now provide a substantive response to the request and comply with its statutory obligations.
What changed
The ICO has issued a Decision Notice finding that London Borough of Waltham Forest breached section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by failing to respond to a complainant's information request within the required 20 working days. The ICO upheld the complaint in full and ordered the public authority to provide a substantive response to the original request.
Public authorities subject to FOIA should ensure robust processes are in place for handling information requests within statutory timeframes. Failure to comply with ICO Decision Notices may result in the matter being referred to the Upper Tribunal for enforcement. While no fine was imposed in this instance, the decision highlights the importance of FOI compliance for local government and other public bodies.
What to do next
- Provide a substantive response to the outstanding Freedom of Information request
- Ensure future FOI requests are acknowledged and responded to within 20 working days
- Review internal FOI handling procedures to prevent similar breaches
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.
London Borough of Waltham Forest
- Date 31 March 2026
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) FOI 10: Upheld The complainant requested information from London Borough of Waltham Forest. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority failed to respond to the request within 20 working days and has therefore breached section 10 of FOIA. The public authority must provide a substantive response to the request in accordance with its obligations under FOIA.
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