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

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Dear Mr Scott,

Freedom of Information Request Reference FOI-1396278
 

Thank you for your request, which we received on 2 March 2022.  
 
On 1 October 2021, the responsibility for information relating to the NHS
Test and Trace programme moved from the Department of Health and Social
Care to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). 
 
With your consent, we can transfer your request, which is outlined below,
to UKHSA so that it can reply to you directly. If you wish for us to do
this for you, please contact us at [1][DHSC request email]. 
 
If you would prefer to contact UKHSA yourself, its address
is [2][email address]. 
 
If we do not hear from you by 7 March 2022, we will assume you either no
longer wish to pursue your request, or prefer to contact UKHSA directly. 
 
Yours sincerely, 

Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

show quoted sections

Dear Scott,

Thank you for your message. I can confirm that your request has been
transferred to the FOI team at UKHSA.

Yours sincerely, 
 

Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

Your request will be handled by the Information Rights Team at the UK
Health Security Agency (UKHSA). We acknowledge receipt of your email and
request for information, which will be treated as a request for
information under statutory access legislation. UKHSA has taken
responsibility for statutory access requests addressed to Public Health
England and NHS Test and Trace Services.

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 will be 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.

The UK Health Security Agency is heavily involved in the government’s
response to the COVID-19 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:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/2617613/ico-reg...

Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[2][email address] 
[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full request:

In a re cent response to an MP's question Heather Wheeler the Assitant
Whip and Parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Offices said:

", 50 suppliers had priority referrals for covid testing support and were
awarded 128 contracts with a total value of £6 billion"

Here is a link to the full response:
[4]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

My request:

1 - Please can you provide the names of the 50 suppliers referred to in
the response from Heather Wheeler.

Yours faithfully,

russell scott

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

We are writing to you regarding your request made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 to the UK Health Security Agency. 

Section 10(3) of the Act enables a public authority to extend the deadline
for response by a “reasonable” length of time, where additional time is
needed for consideration of the public interest test. The view of the
Information Commissioner’s Office is that an additional 20 working days
constitutes a “reasonable” extension of time.       

UKHSA is carefully considering the balance of the public interest test
primarily in relation to the use of Section 42 – legal professional
privilege. UKHSA is therefore extending the deadline for response to your
request by an additional 20 working days. We will endeavour to provide you
with a response by 3 May 2022. 

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][email address] 
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
 

show quoted sections

Full request:

In a re cent response to an MP's question Heather Wheeler the Assitant
Whip and Parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Offices said:

", 50 suppliers had priority referrals for covid testing support and were
awarded 128 contracts with a total value of £6 billion"

Here is a link to the full response:
[6]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

My request:

1 - Please can you provide the names of the 50 suppliers referred to in
the response from Heather Wheeler.

Yours faithfully,

russell scott

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,
Please find attached the UK Health Security Agency's response to your
request.
As UKHSA advised you on 1 April 2022 that it had extended the deadline for
response to your request by an additional 20 working days, the deadline
for response was therefore 4 May 2022. We apologise for providing the
incorrect date in our previous email. 

Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][email address] 
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: russell scott <[FOI #839019 email]>
Sent: 03 May 2022 02:15
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Case ref 2567 - Re: Freedom of Information request - FOI: -
50 Suppliers with 'priority referrals'
 
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.

Dear Information Rights,

Please can you provide a response today? Your previous email suggested a
response would be issued by no later than 03/05/22 (today).

Yours sincerely,

russell scott

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

We acknowledge receipt of your email, which will be treated as a request
for an internal review, following your request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please note we aim to complete your internal review within 20 working days
from the day following the date of receipt of your request. We will notify
you if we anticipate the internal review taking longer than 20 working
days.

Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][email address] 
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

UKHSA has reviewed the response to your request under the Freedom of
Information Act and has undertaken a further review of the information it
holds. 

In order to be able to consider our response to the request for this
information, we now need to contact the identified suppliers and seek
their views following the process as set out in the s.45 Code of
Practice. 

Under paragraph 5.5 of the Guidance
(see: [1]CoP_FOI_Code_of_Practice_-_Minor_Amendments_20180926_.pdf
(publishing.service.gov.uk)) we are allowed to extend our deadline for
responding to you for a reasonable period that enables us to complete this
liaison work. In general, paragraph 5.5 of the Guidance recommends a
further period of 20 working days, although this is not a binding
timeline, and so we propose that we agree to communicate with you again at
that point in time. 

Whilst we can choose to correspond with a sample from the list, we confirm
that we are intending to correspond with all 50 suppliers owing to the
matter at issue. This is why we cannot provide an indication of how long
this process will take at this time. 

We will commit to providing you with a further update in 20 working days’
time, but we confirm that we are seeking to conclude this request as soon
as is practicable in the circumstances. 

 ​

Yours sincerely,
​
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[2][email address] 
[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: russell scott <[FOI #839019 email]>
Sent: 13 June 2022 21:17
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Case ref 188
 
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.

Dear Information Rights,

Please can you provide a response to my IR request. 20 working days has
now past.

Thank you

Yours sincerely,

russell scott

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

Further to our previous correspondence, we are continuing to progress
according to the s.45 FOI Act Code of Practice. We anticipate being able
to provide a more authoritative response in 20 working days.

Yours sincerely,

[1]UKHSA logo  

Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[2][email address]

[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

We write further to your email yesterday evening.

We can confirm that we have now made contact with the 50 suppliers and
some have raised concerns with us about publication and / or have asked
for clarifying information to enable them to respond to us at a late
stage. Given the number of suppliers involved, and the attendant
complexity, we will require a further extension of time to seek legal
advice on the concerns raised and to provide the information requested by
the suppliers.

We will write to you no later than 20 working days from 9 August 2022 with
a further update in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

[1]UKHSA logo  

Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[2][email address]

[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

Please find attached the UK Health Security Agency's response to your
request. 

Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
Parliamentary and Public Accountability Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][email address] 
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Information Rights <[email address]>
Sent: 10 August 2022 10:21
To: [FOI #839019 email]
<[FOI #839019 email]>
Cc: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Case ref 188
 

Dear Russell Scott,

We write further to your email yesterday evening.

We can confirm that we have now made contact with the 50 suppliers and
some have raised concerns with us about publication and / or have asked
for clarifying information to enable them to respond to us at a late
stage. Given the number of suppliers involved, and the attendant
complexity, we will require a further extension of time to seek legal
advice on the concerns raised and to provide the information requested by
the suppliers.

We will write to you no later than 20 working days from 9 August 2022 with
a further update in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

[3]UKHSA logo  

Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[4][email address]

[5]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

Thank you for your email to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) dated 9
September 2022, and apologies for the delay in our response.

The information described in your email of 9 September was not considered
by UKHSA in preparing our responses to your original Freedom of
Information request (ref: 2567) or your subsequent internal review request
(ref: 188), as this was not included in your original request (ref: 2567)
dated 4 March 2022. If you wish to ask for this information, please note
it will need to be submitted as a new request.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Team

Parliamentary and Public Accountability Team

UK Health Security Agency

[1][email address]

[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Good afternoon Russell Scott,

Thank you for your email. We are currently in communications with the
Information Commissioner's Office.

We have received a decision notice to review our response under their case
reference IC-150101-Z2Z4. We have been given a 35 day working deadline.

Thank you for your patience and we apologise for the delay and any
inconvenience this has caused.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[1][email address] 

[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

I am writing on behalf of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to inform
you that we have been granted a further extension to 21 December 2022 to
respond to ICO case reference number: IC-150101-Z2Z4. The ICO has granted
this extension in recognition of resourcing pressures within UKHSA as a
result of current health incidents.

We apologise for the delay in responding and appreciate your continued
patience. We will endeavour to respond no later than 21st December and
sooner if possible.

Yours sincerely,

[1]UKHSA logo Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[2][email address]

[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

Dear Russell Scott

Please find attached the UK Health Security Agency's response to your
Freedom of Information request for details of ‘Referrers’ to the ‘VIP’
Covid testing route.

Yours sincerely,

[1]UKHSA logo Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[2][email address]

[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.gov.uk/ukhsa

Dear Mr Scott,

As the response to the FOI request to which you are referring was issued by UKHSA, please redirect your internal review request to their Information Rights team at [email address].

We apologise that we cannot assist directly.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

show quoted sections

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 'FOI: - 50 Suppliers with
'priority referrals''.

Please can you consider the following points:

1 - On page 4 of your response letter you state: 'The UKHSA is publishing
the first evidenced point of contact identified from the records UKHSA now
holds on behalf of the DHSC, but that information may not be complete'. 

Please can you provide the missing information in order to 'complete' my
request.

2 - Omega, Diasorin and Thirva’s apparently ‘self-referred’ themselves
onto the VIP lane using either the ‘[[1]email address]’ or ‘[[2]email
address] email addresses. 
However, these email addresses were not widely circulated and you would
need somebody (probably an MP, Minister or senior official) to provide you
with the address. 

We know that the ‘triage’ address was set up for Ministers to use. 

Please therefore review you response the response given in both the
'identified by' and 'refferer' field against these three suppliers and
reply accordingly. 

3 - Against the entry for 'bigneat' you claim 'information not held
centrally' - Please advise which authority holds this information?

4 - Against the entry for Dante Labs (Immensa) and Wolf Labs you claim
these companies 'self-reffered to online portal' -please review the
accuracy of this statement as this contradicts the advice you supplied the
NAO. According to the NAO only 'high ranked individuals; such as
ministers, MP's and the Prime Ministers Office were able to refer firms
rahter than self reffering. 

5 - please ensue you name the third party who referred the Native Antigen
Company. (You have disclosed these details for other suppliers - see
Ecolog)

Yours faithfully,

russell scott

show quoted sections

Dear Russell Scott,

Thank you for your email dated 7 January 2023. Your request will be
handled by the Information Rights Team at the UK Health Security Agency
(UKHSA).

You have requested that we treat this request as an Internal Review to
your Freedom of Information Request (50 Suppliers with priority
referrals). Please note that we are unable to treat this request as an
Internal Review, this is because we have already completed the Internal
Review process relating to your original request, as per your email to the
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) dated 10 May 2022. For your
records this was our case reference number 188.

We have however logged your request of 7 January 2023 as a new Freedom of
Information request and will respond accordingly within 20 working days.

If you have any questions regarding this decision please do not hesitate
to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

[1]UKHSA logo Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[2][email address]

[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.gov.uk/ukhsa

Dear Russell Scott,
Please find attached UKHSA's response to your request.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
Parliamentary and Public Accountability Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][email address] 
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa  Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Information Rights <[email address]>
Sent: 13 January 2023 11:59
To: Russell Scott <[email address]>;
[FOI #839019 email]
<[FOI #839019 email]>
Cc: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: UKHSA FOI Request Ref: 1206
 

Dear Russell Scott,

Thank you for your email dated 7 January 2023. Your request will be
handled by the Information Rights Team at the UK Health Security Agency
(UKHSA).

You have requested that we treat this request as an Internal Review to
your Freedom of Information Request (50 Suppliers with priority
referrals). Please note that we are unable to treat this request as an
Internal Review, this is because we have already completed the Internal
Review process relating to your original request, as per your email to the
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) dated 10 May 2022. For your
records this was our case reference number 188.

We have however logged your request of 7 January 2023 as a new Freedom of
Information request and will respond accordingly within 20 working days.

If you have any questions regarding this decision please do not hesitate
to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

[3]UKHSA logo Information Rights Team

UK Health Security Agency

[4][email address]

[5]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. [email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.gov.uk/ukhsa
4. mailto:[email address]
5. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...