Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

The complainant has requested information relating to the identity of individuals responsible for decision making regarding MHRA’s intention to publish interactive drug analysis profiles (iDAPs) for the COVID-19 vaccines. MHRA provided the complainant with some information in response to the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that on the balance of probabilities MHRA does hold further information under section 1(1)(a) FOIA in relation to part 1 of the request and breached section 10(1) FOIA as it failed to provide a response within the statutory time for compliance and failed to respond to an aspect of part 3 of the request. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:
• MHRA must either disclose the further information it holds in relation to part 1 of the request, or issue a refusal notice that complies with section 17 of the FOIA.
• In relation to part 3 of the request, in particular, “whether Ministers were involved with the decision not to publish so far”, MHRA must confirm or deny whether it holds this information. If the MHRA holds information it must either disclose it, or issue a refusal notice that complies with section 17 of the FOIA