Reach Healthcare

The complainant requested information about advertising costs and budget from Reach Healthcare. Having initially provided a response to the complainant that failed to cite an exemption to refuse the request, Reach Healthcare subsequently confirmed during the Commissioner’s investigation that it is relying on section 14(1) of the FOIA (vexatious request) to refuse the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that Reach Healthcare was not entitled to rely on section 14(1) in refusing to comply with the request. He also finds that it breached section 17 of FOIA by failing to issue an adequate refusal notice. The Commissioner requires Reach Healthcare to issue a fresh response to the request, which does not rely on section 14(1) of FOIA.