Chief Constable Wiltshire Constabulary
- Date 19 June 2025
- Sector Police and criminal justice
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Not upheld, FOI 16(1): Upheld, FOI 30(1)(a): Not upheld
The complainant submitted a request to the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police (Wiltshire Police) for information in relation to a named hunt.
The Commissioner’s decision is that, for questions 1 – 3 of the request, on the balance of probabilities Wiltshire Police doesn’t hold the requested information, but it breached section 16 of FOIA (‘duty to provide advice and assistance’); for question 4, Wiltshire Police was correct to refuse to disclose the information it holds, on the basis of section 30(1)(a) of FOIA (‘investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities’).
The Commissioner requires Wiltshire Police to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:
• Provide the complainant with advice and assistance in relation to questions 1 – 3 of the request, in accordance with its obligations under section 16 of FOIA.
Wiltshire Police must take these steps within 30 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 FOIA, and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.