Department of Health and Social Care

The complainant has requested the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to disclose the evidence behind a statement it made in some guidance it issued relating to the Covid-19 vaccines. The DHSC relied on section 21 of FOIA, as the information was already in the publicly domain. The Commissioner’s decision is that on the balance of probabilities the DHSC has identified all the recorded information it holds and, as this information is accessible to the complainant by other means, it is correct to rely on section 21 of FOIA. He has however recorded a breach of section 10 of FOIA because the DHSC failed to respond to the complainant’s request within 20 working days of receipt. The Commissioner does not require any further action to be taken.