Neither confirm nor deny: when the answer is the secret
Publisher
PDP Freedom of Information JournalIssue
Vol. 23, Issue 1
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 confers two rights on an applicant: to be told whether the authority holds the information described (section 1(1)(a), the duty to confirm or deny) and, if it does, to have that information communicated (section 1(1)(b)). In some cases, the authority neither confirms nor denies (‘NCND’) that it holds information, because a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ would itself reveal something that the exemption protects. The fact that a public authority holds, or does not hold, information can reveal something sensitive.
In this article, Richard Hanstock explains when an authority may neither confirm nor deny that information is held and sets out a practical framework for applying and defending this important but narrowly drawn response.
You can find the article here.
