Department of Health and Social Care

The complainant requested information about the Department of Health and Social Care’s involvement in the development or implementation of the NICE guidelines concerning Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. By the date of this notice, the Department of Health and Social Care (“DHSC”) had not issued a substantive response to this request. The Commissioner’s decision is that DHSC has breached section 10(1) of 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 take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: The DHSC must provide a substantive response to the request in accordance with its obligations under FOIA.