ICO Decision: Home Office breached FOI on asylum seeker nationalities

ICO Decision Notices

Filed February 12th, 2026

Detected February 17th, 2026

Summary

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ruled that the Home Office breached FOI section 10(1) by failing to disclose information regarding asylum seeker nationalities in a timely manner. The decision requires the Home Office to disclose the requested nationalities information.

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What changed

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a decision notice finding that the Secretary of State for the Home Department breached section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by failing to provide requested information about the nationalities of deceased asylum seekers within the statutory timeframe. While the Home Office withheld some information under exemptions for health and safety (s.38) and information provided in confidence (s.41), the Commissioner found these exemptions were not adequately demonstrated for the nationalities data. The decision specifically requires the Home Office to disclose the nationalities information.

This ruling has direct implications for the Home Office's compliance with FOI obligations, particularly concerning the timely disclosure of sensitive data. The Home Office must now comply with the ICO's order to release the specified nationalities information. Failure to do so could lead to further regulatory action or contempt proceedings. Other government agencies handling similar requests should review their internal processes for information disclosure and exemption application to ensure compliance with FOI time limits and justification requirements.

What to do next

Disclose the nationalities information as required by the ICO decision.
Review internal processes for handling FOI requests to ensure timely disclosure and proper application of exemptions.

Source document (simplified)

Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Office)

Date 12 February 2026
Sector Central government
Decision(s) FOI 1: Not upheld, FOI 10: Upheld, FOI 38: Upheld, FOI 41: Upheld The complainant requested information relating to individuals who had died whilst awaiting the outcome of an asylum application. The Home Office disclosed some information and withheld other information under the exemptions for health and safety (section 38) and information provided in confidence (section 41). The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office has not demonstrated section 38 and section 41 are engaged in respect of the nationalities of the deceased in the scope of the request, He also finds that the Home Office disclosed other information in accordance with section 1 but failed to do so in time and breached section 10(1). The Commissioner requires the Home Office to disclose the nationalities information in part 2(b) of the request.