Department of Health and Social Care

The Commissioner’s decision is that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is entitled to withhold the requested correspondence between Matt Hancock and Michelle Mone under section 23(1) of FOIA. This is because the information relates to a body dealing with security matters. DHSC’s late reliance on section 23 (and section 31) means that it did not comply with the timescale for refusing a request set out under section 17(1).
It is not necessary for DHSC to take any corrective steps.