Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0EU
www.gov.uk/dhsc
Ms Joy Warren
By email to
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
5 August 2024
Annex A: DHSC response to initial request
Annex B: Request for internal review
Dear Ms Warren,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 (FOIA): INTERNAL REVIEW
CASE REFERENCE: IR-1517265 (FOI-1515955)
You wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on 20 June requesting
information relating to the marking scheme/evaluation process re: Evaluation of the Public
Consultation on Water Fluoridation for the North-East of England (this was further to the
FOI request DHSC answered under FOI-1514956, which is attached as a separate
document). We responded to you on 27 June and a copy of our response, including the full
text of your request, can be found in Annex A.
You subsequently emailed DHSC on 10 July 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.
I note your request was handled under FOIA. However, I assess that it should have been
handled under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).
DHSC has reviewed your request and I can confirm, under Regulation 12(4)(a) of the EIR,
that the requested information is not held, and your request has consequently been
refused.
Conclusion
After careful consideration, I have concluded that the response you received to your FOI
request was partially compliant with the requirements of the FOIA. This is because DHSC
should have responded under the EIR regime, rather than FOIA.
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 a
t https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us and
information about making a complaint can be found a
t https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. Yours sincerely,
Mr D Stanton
FOI Internal Reviews
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Annex A: DHSC response to initial request
Ms Joy Warren
By email to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
27 June 2024
Dear Ms Warren,
Freedom of Information Request Reference FOI-1515955 Thank you for your request dated 20 June to the Department of Health and Social Care
(DHSC), a copy of which can be found in the accompanying annex.
Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
DHSC does not hold the information you have requested.
The question raised in this request was answered in our reply to your previous request,
our ref: FOI-1514956, which is attached.
If you are not satisfied with the handling of this 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 a
t https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us and
information about making a complaint can be found a
t https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Annex
-----Original Message-----
From: Joy Warren xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2024 5:06 PM
To: FreedomofInformation xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Evaluation of the Public Consultation on Water
Fluoridation for the North-East of England
[You don't often get email from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.
Learn
why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]
Dear Department of Health and Social Care,
I refer to your reply to FoI 1515519 in which you have stated that the DHSC will be
responsible for evaluating the above PC.
Please provide me with a copy of the marking scheme/evaluation process which will be
used to assess the quality of responses.
Yours faithfully,
Joy Warren
Annex B: Request for internal review
From: Joy Warren <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2024 3:36 PM
To: FreedomofInformation <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Evaluation of the Public
Consultation on Water Fluoridation for the North-East of England
[You don't often get email from
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@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 'Evaluation of the Public Consultation on Water Fluoridation for
the North-East of England'.
I requested a copy of the marking scheme/evaluation process which will be used to assess
the quality of responses having established from an earlier FoI request that the DHSC
would be evaluating the responses.
The earlier FoI request also established that the DHSC did not have a marking
scheme. However, having established that the DHSC and no other department would be
evaluating the responses, it seemed logical that the DHSC and no other department would
have a marking scheme and that is why I made a fresh request.
I object to being given the same reply when it is patently obvious that the DHSC/OHID
have a marking scheme if the Department is to evaluate responses.
In order to evaluate responses to the above Public Consultation, they need to be
examined by bench-marking them against certain criteria. Without a marking scheme, this
would be impossible. The Public Consultation was due to have been concluded on 17th
June and a marking scheme should have been finalised by then.
It's unbelievable that a marking scheme does not exist. This implies that there would not
be any examination of responses, no evaluation and no lessons learned by OHID. In other
words, the result of the Public Consultation appears to be a foregone conclusion and no
matter what anyone says in their responses, the decision will be to forge ahead with the
proposal.
I really do hope that the DHSC is not going to be so dishonest. Public Consultations are
an opportunity for policy to be challenged and amended or to be thoroughly overhauled.
It is impossible to evaluate responses without a marking scheme. So, where is it?
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%2Fevaluation_of_the_public_consult&data=05%7C02%7Cdhmail%4
0dhsc.gov.uk%7C93888cf6b52b4e17192808dca1988f42%7C61278c3091a84c318c1fef4d
e8973a1c%7C1%7C0%7C638562923815717169%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJ
WIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C
%7C%7C&sdata=gR3onowi5fWVX02%2BxF%2BjPWKmKfOkEkz4Mfsmbbw48do%3D&re
served=0
Yours faithfully,
Joy Warren
