Information Commissioner Issues Two Decisions
The Information Commissioner issued two decisions regarding the Department of Public Lands and Buildings and the Department of Immigration.
A spokesperson said, “On 26 October 2022, the Information Commissioner issued Decision 25/2022, Department of Public Lands and Buildings [Public Lands and Buildings]. The Applicant had submitted a public access to information [PATI] request for records relating to Tudor Farm’s current tenants, tender records and decision making policies. This Decision is connected to Decisions 01/2021 and 16/2021. In addition, the history and background on the importance of Tudor Farm can be found in Decision 20/2022.
“In Decision 25/2022, the Applicant asked the Information Commissioner to conduct an independent review because they were not satisfied with Public Lands and Buildings’ internal review decision and challenged the reasonableness of the public authority’s search for responsive records. In her Decision, the Information Commissioner partially upheld Public Lands and Buildings’ internal review decision. While the Information Commissioner is satisfied that Public Lands and Buildings took all reasonable steps to locate records relating to the current tenants and tenders, she is not satisfied that Public Lands and Buildings conducted a reasonable search to locate the decision making policies before responding to the PATI request. In light of Public Lands and Buildings’ additional searches during the Information Commissioner’s review, however, the Information Commissioner is now satisfied that the Department has met the reasonable search requirements under the PATI Act and Regulations. Public Lands and Buildings identified additional responsive records, some of which have now been disclosed to the Applicant.
“In her Decision, the Information Commissioner has ordered the Department to process two additional responsive records that were not disclosed to the Applicant and issue an initial decision on or before Wednesday, 7 December 2022.
“On 28 October 2022, the Information Commissioner issued Decision 26/2022, Department of Immigration [Immigration]. The Applicant had submitted a PATI request for all records created by Immigration for the Applicant’s British Oversees Territory Citizen [BOTC] application. In Decision 26/2022, the Applicant asked the Information Commissioner to conduct an independent review of Immigration’s internal review decision because they believed the disclosures were incomplete.
“This Decision provides a look at not only how this Applicant’s BOTC application was handled, but how Immigration manages the process of BOTC applications generally. It also brings attention to section 60[2] of the PATI Act which requires the Minister to “establish the codes of practice for public authorities regarding the maintenance and management of records of public authorities in a manner that facilitates ready access to the records”, as the Applicant expressed concerns on Immigration’s record keeping practices.
“In her Decision, the Information Commissioner finds that Immigration did not conduct a reasonable search for records responsive to the Applicant’s request, specifically the search of relevant individuals’ emails, Immigration’s electronic AS400 database or other non-email resources. As a result, the Information Commissioner orders Immigration to conduct a reasonable search and issue a new initial decision to the Applicant on or before Friday, 9 December 2022.
“Decisions 25/2022 and 26/2022 have been filed with the Supreme Court and the accompanying Orders are legally binding. If a public authority fails to comply with a decision, Commissioner Gutierrez will pursue enforcement of her decisions and accompanying orders to safeguard the rights of PATI requesters. To date, public authorities either have complied or are working towards compliance with all the orders accompanying decisions issued by the Information Commissioner. Both Decisions are available at ico.bm.”
The full version of Decision 25/2022 follows below [PDF here]:
The full version of Decision 26/2022 follows below [PDF here]:
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