There is no fixed statutory time limit for publication!
The legislation does NOT impose a deadline for publication. ICO guidance explicitly confirms that a publication date need not be set. In principle, that means it could be weeks, months, or even longer. On its face, it is open-ended.
Although there is no hard deadline, s.22 is not unrestricted. It is tightly conditioned by three key requirements:
(1) “Settled intention” BEFORE the request. The authority must have already decided to publish before receiving your FOI. They cannot decide to publish after the request just to avoid disclosure.
(2) The exemption must be “reasonable in all the circumstances”. This is the critical limiter in law; it must be reasonable to withhold until publication. This is where timing comes in indirectly. ICO / case law approach appears to be ‘The longer the delay, the harder it is to justify withholding‘. If publication is vague or distant → disclosure becomes more likely. If publication is far in the future, the public interest shifts toward disclosure
(3) Public Interest Test (PIT)
s.22 is a qualified exemption. That means even if s.22 applies, the authority must still show the public interest in withholding is greater than the public interest in disclosure
- With no fixed time limit, there is a risk of abuse.
Practitioners openly note the risk that authorities could delay disclosure of inconvenient information. The ICO itself acknowledges that authorities struggle to apply s.22 correctly, a high proportion of complaints are upheld.
Consider asking:
- Evidence of settled intention
- When was the decision to publish made?
- Who authorised it?
- Specific publication details
- What exactly will be published?
- Does it fully cover my request?
- Timing
- When exactly will publication occur?
- If unknown → why is withholding still reasonable?
- Public interest
- Why should the public wait?
- What harm arises from disclosure now?
“In the absence of a defined or proximate publication date, and without evidence of a settled and specific publication plan, the authority cannot demonstrate that withholding is reasonable in all the circumstances.”
04/2026 – from the ICO’s website – documents their case officers use when they write to public authorities:
‘Section 22 – information intended for future publication
In order correctly rely on section 22 there must have been a settled intention to publish the requested information prior to the request being received. Therefore, please provide evidence which demonstrates that the information was going to be published at the time of the initial request. Was the publication date determined when the request was actually received? If so, please confirm on date publication will take place.
Furthermore, for this exemption to be relied on section 22(1)(c) requires that the application is ‘reasonable in all the circumstances’ of the request. Therefore, please explain why in this case the [name of PA] concluded that the application of the exemption was a reasonable one.
[Remember to ask questions about the PIT]’