Porton US grant

The request was partially successful.

Dear Public Health England,

I recently wrote to the DHSC asking for details on a £500,000 payment received by the US Government. The DHSC have advised me that the payment was made to Public Health England and not Porton Biopharma as I had originally indicated.

Here is a copy of the text from my request and their reply.

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Porton Biopharma US grant
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following
information. I am enquiring about a payment of $500,000 to Porton Biopharma from the US Government which was released by the press on 20th March 2020

https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/...

Seeing as the Secretary of State of the sole owner of Porton Biopharma that should make
this publicly accessible information. I would like to request all details of what this payment was for, together with the evidence that the payment was received and similarly where it was spent.

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

DHSC does not hold this information.

Please note that the basis of your request is not accurate in referring to this payment having been made to Porton Biopharma.
The article refers to payments to Public Health England (PHE), not Porton Biopharma, and we suggest that you may wish to direct your request to PHE. FOI requests can be submitted to PHE at [email address].

So my request to PHE is to provide me with details of what the payment was for, together with the evidence that the payment was received and similarly where it was spent.

Yours faithfully,

Mark Oakford

Dear Public Health England,

In My last email I referred to a £500,000 payment. That should have said $500,000

Yours faithfully,

Mark Oakford

FOI, Public Health England

OFFICIAL

Dear Mark Oakford,

We acknowledge receipt of your email and request for information, which will be treated as a request for information under statutory access legislation.

Please note that requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) will receive a response within 20 working days from the day following the date of receipt of your request.

If the request is for your personal data, your request has been handled as a data subject access request (SAR) under Article 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), then we will respond within one month of the receipt of the request.

Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for providing guidance and advice to government and front-line services for all aspects of public health. It is a designated Category 1 responder organisation under the Civil Contingency Act and this specifically includes the COVID-19 response, providing clinical expertise and wider public health advice and guidance across national and local government, the NHS and third sector. As such, you may experience delays when making statutory information access requests during the pandemic.

We will aim to address all requests promptly and within the required response timeframes. However when we are unable to meet the response timeframe we will keep requesters updated on a revised expected timescale for a response to their request. The Information Commissioner recognises this position in its recent guidance, see link: https://ico.org.uk/global/data-protectio...

Public Accountability Unit
Public Health England
[PHE request email]
Tel: 020 8327 6920
www.gov.uk/phe Follow us on Twitter @PHE uk

show quoted sections

FOI, Public Health England

OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Oakford,

Thank you for your email.

Under Section 16 of the FOI Act, public authorities have a duty to provide advice and assistance. Accordingly, you may wish to contact Porton Biopharma at: [email address] who may be able to assist you further.

FOI Team
Public Accountability Unit
Public Health England
[PHE request email]
Tel: 020 8327 6920
www.gov.uk/phe Follow us on Twitter @PHE uk

show quoted sections