Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0EU

www.gov.uk/dhsc

Ms Gemma Stirling
By email to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
1 June 2023

Annex A: DHSC response to initial request

Annex B: Request for internal review

Dear Ms Stirling,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 (FOIA): INTERNAL REVIEW

CASE REFERENCE: IR-1451821 (FOI-1444698)

You originally wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on 17 March
and 2 April requesting information relating to Matt Hancock and Test Trace WhatsApp
messages. We responded to you on 4 May and a copy of our response, including the full
text of your request, can be found in Annex A.

You subsequently emailed DHSC on 4 May requesting an internal review into the handling
of your original request. A copy of your email can be found in Annex B.

The purpose of an internal review is to assess how your Freedom of Information (FOI)
request was handled in the first instance and to determine whether the original decision
given to you was correct. This is an independent review as I was not involved in the
original decision.

Conclusion

After careful consideration, I believe the original response was incorrect, for which I
apologise. This was due to an administrative error during the initial search process. During
the review of this response, it also became clear there was uncertainty on what information
you require.

Section 1(3) of the FOIA does not oblige us to answer requests where we require further
clarification to identify and locate the information requested.

So that DHSC can provide you with the right information, please can you clarify if your
request is for the messages in any WhatsApp chats that are found to be in scope, or
whether you wish to be provided with only the titles of any relevant WhatsApp chats, and
the names of the individuals in those chats, rather than the content. Unfortunately, we are
unable to select which element you want without further input from you. Please note if you
wish to have both elements answered they will be treated as two separate FOI requests.

In addition, in order to establish if we have information in scope of your request, please
can you confirm whether you are interested in group chats only (where it is set up for three
or more individuals) or any type of chat (which would include conversations between just
two individuals and may not have a title).

On receipt of this information, we will continue to process your request.

Please be aware that we cannot guarantee at this stage that a clarified request will fall
within the FOIA cost limit, or that other exemptions will not apply.

The review is now complete.

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 DHSC.

Guidance on contacting the ICO can be found at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us and
information about making a complaint can be found at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

Yours sincerely,

Mr E Franklyn
FOI Internal Reviews
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx

Annex A: DHSC response to initial request


Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0EU
www.gov.uk/dhsc

Ms Gemma Stirling
By email to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
4 May 2023

Dear Ms Stirling,

Freedom of Information Request Reference FOI-1444698

Thank you for your request dated 2 April to the Department of Health and Social Care
(DHSC), a copy of which can be found in the accompanying annex.
This was a follow-up to your request of 17 March, to which we responded on 31 March
with a request for clarification (our ref: FOI-1443108). For ease of reference, your request
of 17 March is also copied in the accompanying annex.

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

DHSC holds some information relevant to your request. However, to comply with your
request as currently framed would exceed the cost limit as set out in section 12(1) of the
FOIA.

Section 12(1) states that a public authority can refuse a request if complying with it would
exceed the appropriate limit of £600, which represents 24 staff hours. This represents the
estimated cost of one person spending this time in determining where the information is
held, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

It may help if I explain that our Departmental Records Office (DRO) has conducted a
search of the file of Matt Hancock’s Whatsapp messages, using the keyword term “track
and trace”, and has found dozens of separate chat groups, including conversations
totalling over 23, 500 pages. The contents would need to be reviewed in careful detail in
order to locate information within scope of your request, which would be an extremely
time-consuming exercise. And I should also point out that whilst some of these messages
are between just two or three people, others involve multiple participants.

Unfortunately, the range of searches that our DRO can carry out on these Whatsapp
messages is relatively limited, and whilst they can conduct keyword searches, they are
unable to set those to within specific timeframes, and for this reason we are unable to
suggest a way in which your request can be narrowed in order to bring it under the section
12 limit.

If you are not satisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to appeal by
asking for an internal review. This should be sent to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or
to the address at the top of this letter and be submitted within two months of the date of
this letter.


Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communication.

If you are not content with the outcome of your internal review, you may complain directly
to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Generally, the ICO cannot make a
decision unless you have already appealed our original response and received our internal
review decision. You should raise your concerns with the ICO within three months of your
last meaningful contact with us.

Guidance on contacting the ICO can be found at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us and
information about making a complaint can be found at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Team
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx

Annex

FOI-1444698


From: Gemma Stirling <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Sent: 02 April 2023 09:01
To: FreedomofInformation <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Test and trace WhatsApp

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

I am requesting WhatsApp messages about track and trace systems that Matt Hancock
was a member of during the pandemic or a list of all chat titles and names of those
involved in the messages.

Yours faithfully,

Gemma Stirling


FOI-1443108

From: Gemma Stirling <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Sent: 17 March 2023 23:38
To: FreedomofInformation xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Test and trace WhatsApp

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

I would like a copy of the Test and Trace WhatsApp messages used by government
officials including Matt Hancock.

Yours faithfully,
Gemma Stirling

Annex B: Request for internal review

From: Gemma Stirling <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Sent: 04 May 2023 16:51
To: FreedomofInformation <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Test and trace WhatsApp

[You don't often get email from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx. Learn
why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Health and Social Care's
handling of my FOI request 'Test and trace WhatsApp'.

I can't understand how providing a list Whastapps titles and who is a member would
exceed the costs quoted. You've said an approx number so clearly have been able to
check them to know this.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this
address:
https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatdotheykn
ow.com%2Frequest%2Ftest_and_trace_whatsapp&data=05%7C01%7Cdhmail%40dhsc.g
ov.uk%7Ceaf4dc0474b7421af07708db4d4a50d1%7C61278c3091a84c318c1fef4de8973a
1c%7C1%7C0%7C638188753798421952%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC
4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C
%7C&sdata=1%2BFMLAThXBfDEHtnnJ9jlfGeiJZD%2BdEfmzD3Y4Vahls%3D&reserved=
0

Yours faithfully,

Gemma Stirling

Document Outline