The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ordered the
Minstry of Defence (MOD) to improve its response to requests under
the Freedom of Information Act.
The Act requires a prompt response to requests, but an ICO audit
found that a number of the MOD's internal reviews had taken longer
than 40 working days to complete.
In one case, a requester was kept waiting for over 190 working
days for a response from the MOD, the ICO said.
The ICO has issued a
practice recommendation to the MOD for failing to complete
internal reviews within a reasonable time.
The ICO guidance states that a reasonable time for completing an
internal review is 20 working days and no case should exceed 40
working days.
Gerrard Tracey, assistant information commissioner, said the ICO
would monitor the MOD's performance over the next year.
Failure to conform with the ICO's recommendation will result in
closer scrutiny of the MOD's performance.