Cherwell District Council

The complainant has requested copies of correspondence between Cherwell District Council (CDC) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Initially, CDC refused the request under sections 21 (Information accessible by other means) and 31 (Law enforcement) of FOIA. However, during the Commissioner’s investigation it suspected the complainant had made the request using a pseudonym. It asked the complainant for confirmation of their identity, which they did not provide. CDC then argued that the request was not a valid request for information within the meaning at section 8(1)(b) (Request for information) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that, in the circumstances of this case, CDC was entitled to consider that the request did not meet the criteria for a valid request under section 8(1)(b) of FOIA without verification of the complainant’s identity.