5820-03810 — Privy Council Office
The complainant alleged that the Privy Council Office (PCO) did not conduct a reasonable search for specific IAC reports from 1990 concerning the USSR and former Warsaw Pact countries. The OIC found that PCO initially failed to retrieve all relevant records, despite an additional search yielding 1,352 pages. PCO later identified 98 further pages. The Information Commissioner ordered PCO to provide a supplementary response by January 22, 2026, which PCO has agreed to implement.
- Reasonableness of the search conducted by PCO
- Completeness of the records provided
- Timeliness of the supplementary response
Complaint well founded — disclosure ordered
The OIC determined that PCO did not initially conduct a reasonable search and did not locate all responsive records. An order was issued for PCO to complete its search and provide a supplementary response by a specified date.
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The Privy Council Office was ordered to provide a supplementary response to the access request by January 22, 2026.
- s.30(1)(a) ATIA
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