The complainant requested copies of original statements issued in or around March 2020 by the General Optical Council (GOC) regarding the suspension of routine services and suggestions about other procedural changes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. By the date of this notice the GOC had failed to issue a substantive response to this request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the GOC failed to respond to the request within 20 working days and has therefore breached section 10 of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the GOC to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Issue a substantive response, under the FOIA, to the request. The GOC must take these steps within 35 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 FOIA and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.
FOI 10: Complaint upheld
Citations:
[2020] UKICO IC-50031-S7G8
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 08 August 2022; Ref: scu.656045
