Department of Health and Social Care

The complainant requested information from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about a Coronavirus testing laboratory which suffered IT system failures. The DHSC had failed to provide a substantive response by the date of this notice. The Commissioner’s decision is that the DHSC 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, under the FOIA, to the request. 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 FOIA and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.