The complainant alleged that the Privy Council Office (PCO) did not conduct a reasonable search in response to an access request under the Access to Information Act for All IAC reports (IAs, SIRs, and other reports; all versions of such reports, including codeword, non-codeword, CEO and allied versions) dealing with the USSR and/or members of the former Warsaw Pact and Yugoslavia produced during the period 1 January to 31 December 1990.

The allegation falls within paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

The investigation determined that the Offices of Primary Interest did not retrieve all relevant records when they were tasked to do so. PCO was unable to show that it conducted a reasonable search for all of the records responsive to the access request. An additional search conducted during the investigation resulted in an additional 1,352 pages being provided to the complainant. However, the Complainant continued to maintain that more records should exist. In response, PCO identified a further 98 pages of records.

The Information Commissioner ordered that PCO provide the subsequent response to the access request by January 22, 2026.

PCO gave notice to the Commissioner that it would be implementing the order.

The complaint is well founded.