The complainant requested information from the Department of Health and Social Care (‘DHSC’) relating to correspondence between the Health Minister, Lord Bethel, and Portland Communications. By the date of this notice the Council had not provided a substantive response to this request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the DHSC has failed to respond to the request within 20 working days and has therefore breached section 10 of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the DHSC to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. – Issue a substantive response to the request in accordance with its obligations under the FOIA. The DHSC must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.
FOI 10: Complaint upheld
Citations:
[2021] UKICO IC-71988
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 25 August 2022; Ref: scu.657971