FOI release

Request for information regarding delists by Tesco-owned Booker Group/Booker Wholesale

Published 8 April 2024

7th Floor, The Cabot
25 Cabot Square
London E14 4QZ
T: +44 (0) 207 215 6537
E: Enquiries@GroceriesCode.gov.uk
www.gov.uk/gca

Sent by email 28 March 2024

Freedom of Information Act: Request for information on Groceries Code Adjudicator activities

Thank you for your email dated 4 March 2024 regarding complaints received by the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) about delists by Tesco-owned Booker Group/Booker Wholesale. In your email you asked for the following information: 

“I am seeking data on the number of complaints you have received from suppliers about delists by Tesco-owned Booker Group/Booker Wholesale, alleging breaches to the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). 

I believe there is a strong public interest for this information to be published due the potential impact on consumer choice and unfair business practices. 

Please can you supply the following information: 

• The number of complaints for periods spanning 2022, 2023 and 2024. Ideally, I would like these figures broken-down month by month. 
• If possible, please provide the name of the supplier who had submitted the complaint.”

Duty to confirm or deny whether the GCA holds the information

Under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the FOI Act”), anyone making a request for information to the GCA, as a public authority, is entitled to be informed in writing whether it holds that information, and if so, to be supplied with it. Section 44(1)(a) of the FOI Act provides that information is exempt if disclosure by the public authority holding it is prohibited by or under any enactment. 

Section 18(2) of the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013 (“the GCA Act”) prevents the GCA from making an unauthorised disclosure of information that the Adjudicator thinks might cause someone to think that a particular person has complained about a large retailer failing to comply with the Groceries Code. Tesco plc is a large retailer for the purposes of the GCA Act.  The GCA thinks that releasing the information that you have requested might cause someone to think a particular person has complained about a large retailer failing to comply with the Groceries Code. None of the exemptions set out in section 18 of the GCA Act apply. 

As disclosure of the information you have requested is prohibited by section 18(2) of the GCA Act 2013, section 44(1)(a) of the FOI Act applies in this case and the information requested is exempt from disclosure. This is an absolute exemption and there is, therefore, no requirement to consider the public interest.

Appeals Procedure

If you wish to complain about the way in which your request for information has been handled, you may seek an internal review by writing, setting out the reasons you feel your request has not been dealt with effectively, to:

The FOI Review Co-ordinator
Groceries Code Adjudicator
7th Floor
25 Cabot Square
London
E14 4QZ

Alternatively, you can email: enquiries@groceriescode.gov.uk.

We will aim to deal with your Internal Review request within 20 working days of receipt or, if that is not possible, advise you of a date when we expect to complete the review.  

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Internal Review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can do this on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.   

If you have any enquiries about the work of the GCA, please get in touch with our communications team by emailing enquiries@groceriescode.gov.uk.