The director of a care home in Bridlington, Yorkshire, has been fined for refusing to respond to a request for a resident’s personal information – known as a subject access request (SAR).  

In April 2023, a woman requested personal information about her father from Bridlington Lodge Care Home.   

Jason Blake, 56, was found to have blocked, erased, or concealed records held by Bridlington Lodge Care Home between 12 April and 12 May 2023 to prevent this information being disclosed.    

Under data protection law, people have the legal right to ask an organisation if it is using or storing their personal information and receive a copy of any personal information held.  

In this case, the daughter had the authority to request this information on her father’s behalf due to a lasting power of attorney. The personal information requested included incident reports, copies of CCTV footage and notes relating to her father’s care.  

After Mr Blake refused to respond to the request, a complaint was made to the ICO. During the ICO’s investigation, Mr Blake did not provide any explanation about why his organisation would not respond to the SAR.  

Mr Blake appeared at Beverley Magistrates Court on Wednesday 3 September 2025 where he was ordered to pay a fine of £1,100 and additional costs of £5,440 after being found guilty.  

All organisations must respond to a SAR within one month of receipt of the request, which can sometimes be extended to three months.  

It is a criminal offence for organisations to alter, deface, block, erase, destroy or conceal information with the intention of preventing disclosure under Section 173 of the Data Protection Act.