Department of Health and Social Care

The complainant has requested information relating to the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) discharge of its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 pertaining to the determination of central government funding available to social services authorities, as well as information relating to the process of analysis and the process of assessment of the overall sufficiency of adult social care funding. The Commissioner’s decision is that DHSC was correct to rely on section 41(1) and 21 of FOIA to withhold the evidential material used in its assessment of funding and overall sufficiency. The Commissioner also finds that section 35(1)(a) is engaged, however, the public interest lies in favour of disclosing the information. The Commissioner requires DHSC to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Provide the complainant with a copy of the information it withheld under section 35(1)(a). The public authority must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court. Information Tribunal FT/EA/2024/0211 under appeal.