Dear Till,

Reference No: EH-301744-R4C7W6

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for contacting the National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence (NICE) with your request for information, sent to our office on
4 October 2019, in which you asked for a copy of the original assessment
group report and final appraisal document for TA99.

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances we may be unable to achieve this deadline. If
this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at the
earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you chose not to make a payment then your request will remain
unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
NICE.

Yours sincerely,

Alex

Alexander Smith

Communications Executive

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Level 1A | City Tower | Piccadilly Plaza | Manchester M1 4BD | United
Kingdom
Tel: 0300 323 0141 | Fax: 0300 323 0149

Web: [1]http://nice.org.uk

[2]20 years of NICE email banner

show quoted sections

Dear Till,

Reference No: EH-301744-R4C7W6

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for contacting the National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence (NICE) with your request for information, sent to our office on
4 October 2019, in which you asked for a copy of the original assessment
group report and final appraisal document for TA99.

Please find attached the documents that you requested.

I can confirm that, while we do hold an unredacted copy of the technology
assessment report, some of the information on pages 4, 12, 13, 41, 43, 51,
75, 76, 77, 78, 85, 110 has been redacted as it is exempt from disclosure
under section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 41(1)
states:

Information is exempt information if –

 a. It was obtained by the public authority from any other person
(including another public authority), and,
 b. The disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise than under
this Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach
of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

Section 41(1) is an absolute exemption which means that there is no need
to consider the public interest test under the Act. However, the common
law duty of confidence contains an inherent public interest test which we
have considered in order to decide if the information that you requested
is exempt. As the information was provided to NICE by an external
organisation, the West Midlands Health Technology Assessment
Collaboration, and disclosure of the information could give rise to an
actionable breach of confidence, we are satisfied that both of the above
components apply.

The public interest test when considering a duty of confidence assumes
that information should be withheld unless the public interest in
disclosure outweighs the public interest in maintaining the confidence. In
favour of releasing the information that you have requested, we
acknowledge that it is in the interests of the public generally that all
relevant information about technologies being appraised by NICE be put
into the public domain to promote openness and transparency.

However, the interest in favour of disclosure has to be balanced against
the potential damage caused by disclosure of information provided in
confidence. Academic institutions would be discouraged from submitting
data to NICE if they did not have a degree of certainty that such
confidences would be respected. Furthermore, there is a public interest in
preserving a free flow of information to a public authority where this is
necessary for the public authority to perform its statutory functions. If
we were to release information provided in confidence we would not only
risk action being taken against us by the authors of the information, but
we would also risk losing the confidence of other academic institutions
that we are working with currently, and will need to work with again in
the future.

The agreement between NICE and the West Midlands Health Technology
Assessment Collaboration also documents the authors’ right to make a final
decision in relation to the release of confidential information into the
public domain. After careful consideration, we have concluded that the
public interest in disclosure is outweighed by the public interest in
maintaining the duty of confidence.

If you have any questions about this response you are welcome to call me
on the enquiry handling team number: 0300 323 0141 (weekdays 09:00 –
17:00).

If you are unhappy with this response and want an internal review of how
we handled your request, you must write to us within 40 working days of
our response. Send your request to: Associate Director, Corporate Office,
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 10 Spring Gardens,
London SW1A 2BU or email: [1][email address]. When we receive your
request we will send you an acknowledgement within 5 working days.

The Associate Director, Corporate Office, will review your complaint and
send you a full reply usually within 20 working days. If you are
dissatisfied with the outcome of this review, you can apply directly to
the Information Commissioner for a decision at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF.

Kind regards,

Alex

Alexander Smith

Communications Executive

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Level 1A | City Tower | Piccadilly Plaza | Manchester M1 4BD | United
Kingdom
Tel: 0300 323 0141 | Fax: 0300 323 0149

Web: [2]http://nice.org.uk

[3]20 years of NICE email banner

From: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
Sent: 04 October 2019 16:54
To: '[FOI #609218 email]'
<[4][FOI #609218 email]>
Subject: EH-301744-R4C7W6 - Freedom of Information request - TA99.
Immunosuppressive therapy for renal transplantation in children and
adolescents

Dear Till,

Reference No: EH-301744-R4C7W6

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for contacting the National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence (NICE) with your request for information, sent to our office on
4 October 2019, in which you asked for a copy of the original assessment
group report and final appraisal document for TA99.

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances we may be unable to achieve this deadline. If
this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at the
earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you chose not to make a payment then your request will remain
unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
NICE.

Yours sincerely,

Alex

Alexander Smith

Communications Executive

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Level 1A | City Tower | Piccadilly Plaza | Manchester M1 4BD | United
Kingdom
Tel: 0300 323 0141 | Fax: 0300 323 0149

Web: [5]http://nice.org.uk

[6]20 years of NICE email banner

show quoted sections