Geoffrey Whitaker v The Information Commissioner & Anor

Facts

Mr Whitaker asked His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) for figures on applications for Grants of Letters of Administration. In November 2024 the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) first said the information was not held because there was "no business requirement" to hold it. It then said that the information was held but that providing it would exceed the cost limit. Mr Whitaker made a fresh request on 23 December 2024 covering 1 January to 31 March 2024. Part (a) asked for four figures: the total number of Letters of Administration applications; how many followed a rejected application for a grant of probate in the same estate; and, of those, how many estates had an inheritance tax liability and how many had a liability above a stated threshold. Part (b) asked for the longest period that could be answered within the cost limit. Part (c) asked the Probate Service to confirm that it was wrong to say there was no business requirement. Part (d) asked for its reasons if it still held that view. During the Information Commissioner's investigation, the MoJ changed its position: the information was held only on behalf of a court and so was not held for the purposes of FOIA. The Commissioner accepted this. Mr Whitaker appealed to the First-tier Tribunal. Part (a)1 had already been published and was not in issue, and at the hearing he accepted that parts (b) and (c) fell away.