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 documents, memoranda, e-mails, correspondence, briefing notes, text messages, messages on Microsoft Teams or any other messaging platform, and any other records, including drafts, from July 25, 2023, to the present.

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

The investigation determined that one Office of Primary Interest did not retrieve all relevant records when it was 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 26 pages of relevant records being located and processed.

The Information Commissioner ordered that PCO provide the subsequent response to the access request no later than 36 business days after the date of the Final Report.

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

The complaint is well founded.