Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0EU
www.gov.uk/dhsc
Mr Anthony Chambers
By email to
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
14 January 2025
Dear Mr Chambers,
Freedom of Information Request Reference FOI-1557422
Thank you for your request dated 13 December 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).
For clarity, we understand your request to be about expenditure on legal fees relating to
the Thirlwall Inquiry. The Thirlwall Inquiry, looking at the events in the Countess of Chester
Hospital, in relation to neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, commenced in September 2023.
DHSC holds some information relevant to your request. However, as the information held
by DHSC is in the public domain, we will, under section 21 of the FOIA (information
accessible to the applicant by other means), refer you to the published source.
Information relating to legal costs paid by the Thirlwall Inquiry, which covers both the
Inquiry’s legal costs, as well as costs paid to legal firms in accordance with the Notice of
Determination issued pursuant to Section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005, is already in the
public domain.
The Thirlwall Inquiry, which is sponsored by DHSC, publishes its financial accounts at the
following link:
Documents | The Thirlwall Inquiry. The last update was 10 December 2024.
DHSC is also a core participant to the Thirlwall Inquiry and is legally represented by the
Government Legal Department. However, DHSC does not hold information on this legal
spend, as these costs are not identifiable in DHSC’s departmental accounts. You may
wish to submit your request for this element of DHSC’s legal spend to the Government
Legal Department. Its contact email address is:
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
If you are not satisfied with the handling of your request, you can request we undertake an
internal review. It would be helpful, if doing so, to be explicit about which areas of the
Freedom of Information response you are dissatisfied. Complaints to us should be sent to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or to the address at the top of this letter and be
submitted within 40 working days 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 complained to us about our original response and
received our response to your complaint and, if applicable, our internal review decision.
You should raise your concerns with the ICO within six weeks of your last substantive
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
From: Anthony chambers <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2024 4:02 PM
To: FreedomofInformation <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Lucy letby public inquiry
Dear Department of Health and Social Care,
as a freedom of information request disclose how much public money your organisation
has so far spent on legal fees specific to the Lucy Letby public inquiry
Yours faithfully,
Mr Anthony chambers
