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Exercise Cygnus report

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Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

In 2016, there was a cross-Government tier one pandemic influenza exercise called Cygnus. I believe this was carried out in October, between 18th and 20th.

As I understand, this was carried out by the Department of Health, as requested by the Cabinet Office.

Please provide the report produced as a result of Exercise Cygnus, including the conclusions and recommendations for changes.

Yours faithfully,
Helen Thomas
07894 005 118

Department of Health and Social Care

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Department of Health and Social Care

Dear Ms Thomas,

Thank you for your request of 26 February 2020 under the Freedom of
Information Act (Ref: FOI-1206716).

I am writing to inform you that the Department's consideration of the
balance of the public interest with regards to your request is not yet
complete and requires further time to complete in line with Section 10(3)
of the FOI Act.
 
The Department is currently assessing the public interest in release under
Section 35(1)(a) - the formulation or development of government policy.
 
We anticipate this process will take no longer than a further 20 working
days to complete.  We therefore aim to respond fully to your request by 24
April 2020.
 
Please accept my apologies for this delay.

Yours sincerely

Edward Franklyn
Freedom of Information Officer
Department of Health and Social Care

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Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Thomas,

Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your recent FOI request (our ref: FOI-1206716) 

Yours sincerely,

 Edward Franklyn 

Freedom of Information team
Department of Health and Social Care

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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 'Exercise Cygnus report'.

The report is being withheld on the basis of section 35 (1) (a), the protection of information relating to the formation and development of government policy.

This is a historic document relating to a theoretical exercise carried out in 2016 about our preparedness for a pandemic. To the extent that it was ever a crucial part of formulating government policy it would have been in the period immediately following that exercise.

Given that we are now living through a real-life pandemic, it would be very odd if this document were a crucial part of developing government policy at this time, or in the years ahead. It has, quite obviously, been overtaken by events. If government policy is still being formulated and developed with reference to a theoretical planning exercise run four years ago, something has already gone rather wrong.

On the other hand, there is a strong public interest in information that relates to our level of preparedness going into the Covid-19 outbreak, and the systems and processes that were in place. Moreover, the government has repeatedly pledged to be open and transparent with the public with regards to the current crisis.
Yours faithfully,

Helen Thomas

FreedomofInformation, Department of Health and Social Care

Dear Ms Thomas,

 

Thank you for your email of 17 April asking for an internal review of an
Freedom of Information request.

 

We are unable to process your internal review request without a case
reference number. So that we can process your request, please provide us
with the reference number of the case that you asking to be internally
reviewed.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

FOI Team.

 

This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.

Hello,

This is related to my recent FOI request (ref: FOI-1206716).

Yours sincerely,

Helen Thomas

Department of Health and Social Care

This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health and Social Care. 

We are currently experiencing high volumes of enquiries and we are
focusing our resources on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) response.

The answers to many questions, including the latest information on
COVID-19, can be found on [1]GOV.UK, the [2]Department of Health and
Social Care website or by visiting the [3]NHS website. We may not respond
to you if the answer to your enquiry can be found on either of these
websites. Where a reply is appropriate, we aim to send a response within
18 working days, or 20 working daysif your query is a Freedom of
Information request or complaint.

If you are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19, please
vist [4]111.nhs.uk or telephone your GP surgery immediately for further
advice. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital directly.

The Department of Health and Social Care does not process complaints about
the NHS or social services. If you wish to make a complaint about a
healthcare professional, an NHS organisation or a social care provider,
please visit the [5]Complaints Procedure page on GOV.UK.

You can find out more about the Department’s commitments from our Personal
Information
Charterhttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisati....

This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
3. https://www.nhs.uk/
4. https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19/
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

FreedomofInformation, Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Thomas,

I apologise for the length of time it has taken to carry out your requested internal review of FOI-1206716.

The review is now complete. Please see the attached letter for the outcome.

Yours sincerely,

Charlene Carter
Freedom of Information Casework Manager
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0EU

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We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Helen Thomas please sign in and let everyone know.