THE Information Commissioner’s Office has put itself under investigation after its own staff complained that it had refused to give them information.

Staff members asked for information about wages, which public-sector union PCS said are lower than those paid for equivalent jobs elsewhere in the Civil Service, under the Freedom of Information Act after three senior managers were believed to have received salary increases averaging 11 per cent.

But the commission, which monitors and enforces rights on information access, refused to provide the information.

“While pay at the ICO has stagnated because of George Osborne’s cuts, the commission has handed huge increases to its most highly paid executives,” said PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka.

“It is deeply ironic that our members there are having to complain to their own employer about its refusal to release this information.”

PCS complained to the commission, which is now investigating itself.

As part of a campaign for pay rises the PCS members are now planning strike action.

“The ICO has a general duty to investigate complaints from members of the public who believe that an authority has failed to respond correctly to a request for information,” said a spokesman for the ICO.

“A complaint of this type will be dealt with in the same way as any other, with safeguards in place to ensure an independent decision.”