AH v The Information Commissioner

Facts

The appellant, AH, granted anonymity by Judge Armstrong-Holmes on 16 March 2026, had for some years pursued Norfolk County Council over a child safeguarding incident said to have occurred in 2018 and to have involved an incident in 2019, alleging that a designated safeguarding lead at a Norwich school had made false statements to children's services and that reports had subsequently been altered. On 20 March 2025 the appellant made a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for correspondence between the Council's Local Authority Designated Officer and the Education Quality Assurance Intervention Regulatory Service, together with the contact details used. The request was first sent to the LADO mailbox and, on the same day, redirected by the appellant to the information governance team. No response was given within the statutory period, and on 9 May 2025 the appellant complained to the Information Commissioner. The Council told the Commissioner on 16 June 2025 that it treated the request as vexatious and relied on section 17(6) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to decline to issue a further refusal notice. By a decision notice of 1 December 2025 the Commissioner upheld that stance, and the appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, which determined the appeal on the papers.