Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Office)
- Date 8 July 2026
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Upheld, FOI 21: Upheld, FOI 45: Upheld
The complainant has requested copies of guidance and related materials issued to carriers concerning the acceptable documentation British citizens, including dual nationals, may use to travel to the UK. The Home Office confirmed that it held some information falling in scope, but refused to disclose it, citing section 21 (Information accessible by other means) of FOIA and providing a link to information on GOV.UK. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 21 was incorrectly cited. He also finds that the Home Office adopted an unduly narrow interpretation of the request and did not take reasonable and proportionate steps to identify all information falling within its scope. The Commissioner therefore finds that the Home Office did not comply with section 1(1) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires the Home Office to disclose pages 6, 9, 12, 28, 34 and 35 of version 8 of the carrier information pack. It must also conduct searches to identify any further information held within the scope of the request, including information in previous versions of the carrier information pack, in line with the interpretation set out in paragraphs 23, 29 and 46 of this notice. It must then issue a fresh response under FOIA which does not rely on section 21. If any newly identified information is exempt, or no further information is held, the Home Office must issue a refusal notice which is compliant with the requirements of section 17(1) of FOIA.