Department stalls over Freedom of Information requests
The Department of Health has been failing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. Two requests regarding senior DH civil servants made by HSJ last year have been delayed.
The first request, submitted on 1 November, was acknowledged on 29 November with a statement that the DH estimated "that it will take an additional 20 working days to take a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies".
It added: "We plan to have a response by 28 December. If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a conclusion, we will keep you informed."
However, HSJ was not kept informed. The request was answered on Tuesday after 56 working days.
The second request, sent on 7 November, has been with the DH for 54 working days. When no response was received after the official 20-day time limit HSJ sent a reminder email on 6 December. The DH replied that "collating the information is regrettably taking longer than expected" and that the team hoped "to be able to provide the details you have requested shortly".
This week a DH freedom of information officer admitted he was "embarrassed" by the delay and said that permanent secretary Hugh Taylor was involved with the requests.
A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office told HSJ there was "good cause for complaint" against the DH, saying a request "cannot be delayed without formally extending the time period".
In December information commissioner Richard Thomas hit out at government departments for failing to adequately comply with the act. "Those who know they need to get their act together will be hearing from us," he said.
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