To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our ref: DE00000423369
Dear Mr Burns,
Thank you for your email of 19 June to the Department of Health requesting, under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, unpublished minutes of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Varicella / Herpes Zoster Subgroup and information about future meetings of this subgroup. Your request has been passed to me for reply.
The Varicella subgroup met on 9 March. The target date for publication of subgroup minutes is usually six weeks after the relevant full meeting of JCVI. However, we now expect to publish the 9 March subgroup minutes within six weeks of the JCVI meeting held on 17 June. The work of the subgroup is due to be considered by the meeting of JCVI on 14 October since it was not dealt with by the committee in June.
With relation to your request for the minutes of the 9 March meeting, the Department does hold information relevant to your request. However, as the minutes of the subgroup meeting on 9 March are due for publication shortly, this information is caught by section 22 of the Freedom of Information request, which relates to information intended for future publication.
Section 22 is a qualified exemption and is subject to consideration of the public interest test. We recognise that there is a public interest in providing this information to you in order to be helpful, and to promote accountability and transparency of government. However, in this case, there are strong arguments to support the use of the future publication exemption on the basis that the best use of public resources would be directed to pulling this information together, ensuring the information is accurate and published in a consistent and comprehensive format.
There are currently no future meetings arranged for this subgroup. It is relevant to add that the JCVI meeting of 17 June considered again the openness of its processes. Details of that discussion and decisions reached will be included in the minutes that should be published in late July, along with the subgroup minutes you requested.
If you have any queries about this response, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
I hope this reply is helpful. If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:
Head of the Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health
Room 317
79
SW1A 2NS
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xxx.xx
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Department. The ICO can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely,
Aimee Gasston
FOI Officer
Department of Health