Department of Health and Social Care

The complainant requested information from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) relating to correspondence and communications between Owen Paterson, the then MP for North Shropshire, and/or Lord Bethell and/or Matt Hancock. By the date of this notice DHSC had failed to provide a substantive response to this request. The Commissioner’s decision is that DHSC has breached section 10(1) of the FOIA in that it failed to provide a valid response to the request within the statutory time frame of 20 working days. The Commissioner requires DHSC to respond to the complainant’s request in accordance with the FOIA. DHSC must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice.