Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0EU
www.gov.uk/dhsc
Seymour Borealis
By email to:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
11 April 2025
Dear Mr Borealis,
Freedom of Information Request Reference FOI-1591295
Thank you for your request dated 16 March 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).
However, to provide the information as it is currently framed would exceed the appropriate
cost limit set out in the FOIA.
Section 12(1) of the FOIA means public authorities are not obliged to comply with a
request for information if they estimate the cost of complying would exceed the appropriate
limit. The appropriate limit for DHSC is set at £600, which represents the cost of one
person spending 24 working hours determining whether we hold the information, and then
locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
For example, officials undertook a search for information from Stephen Nash to the DHSC
Domain and found 100 emails. A further search for information from the DHSC Domain to
Stephen Nash/UMAPs found 869 emails.
Additionally, a search for information from the UMAPS Domain to the DHSC Domain found
117 emails.
We have therefore estimated that the cost of extracting and reviewing this information
would exceed the appropriate limit. Consequently, we wil not be answering your request.
Although we cannot answer your request at the moment, we may be able to answer a
refined request within the cost limit. You may wish to consider, for example, requesting a
specific time period. Please be aware that we cannot guarantee at this stage that a refined
request would fall within the FOIA cost limit, or that other exemptions wil not apply.
If you are not satisfied with the handling of your request, you can request we undertake an
internal review. If doing so, it would be helpful for you to be explicit which areas of the
Freedom of Information response you consider dissatisfactory. Complaints to us should be
sent to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or to the address at the top of this letter and be
submit ed 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 at
https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us and
information about making a complaint can be found at
https:/ ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Annex
From: Seymour Borealis <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Sent: 16 March 2025 11:48
To: FreedomofInformation <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - UMAPs Communications
Dear Department of Health and Social Care,
A FOI request below.
Please provide all written and email correspondence since October 2024 between:
1) DHSC and UMAPs + Stephen Nash
2) Leng Review and UMAPs + Stephen Nash
Yours faithfully,
Seymour Borealis
