Jenny Lunnon v The Information Commissioner

Facts

The appellant, Jenny Lunnon, has for some time raised concerns about Woodeaton Manor School, a special school in Oxfordshire rated inadequate by Ofsted in November 2023 and placed in special measures. That rating triggered the statutory conversion of the School from local authority maintenance to academy status, with Propeller Academy Trust, a multi academy trust selected by the Department for Education, taking over on 1 October 2025. The appellant believed the process by which Propeller came to run the School was clandestine and lacked transparency, pointing in particular to visits made to the School by Mr Pegler of Propeller in September and October 2023, shortly before the Ofsted inspection. On 17 January 2025 she made a data subject access request and, separately, a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for copies of email and other correspondence explaining the nature and purpose of six recorded visits (and any unrecorded out-of-hours visits) by Mr Pegler. The School, through its solicitors, refused to answer on 14 February 2025 on the footing that the request was vexatious under section 14 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and maintained that position on internal review. On 23 January 2026 the Information Commissioner issued a decision notice agreeing that the request was vexatious. The appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, appearing in person; neither the Commissioner nor the School attended.