Service Requirements (WCA outcome report) - Contract with CHDA Limited

The request was refused by Department for Work and Pensions.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

The contract between the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and CHDA Limited includes a number of service requirements specified in “Schedule 2.1 (Service Requirements). These include the following in ANNEX 5: MEDICAL QUALITY REPORT”.

One of these is described as the “WCA outcome report” and comes with the following instruction:
“Complete the spreadsheet – comments to be provided for those centres either identified by the Authority or who are outside the agreed range.”

Please disclose:

RFI1: How does the DWP manage the WCA outcome reports? For example does each CHDA assessment centre submit its own report to the DWP or does CHDA collate individual reports and submit a single report to the DWP?

RFI2: What is the frequency of reporting of WCA outcome reports to the DWP (i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly etc)

RFI3: If a single instance of this spreadsheet is maintained by the DWP please supply me with a copy.

RFI4: The DWP refers to an “agreed range”. What does this mean, what is its value and how it was derived?

RFI5: Please provide the most recent WCA outcome report submitted to the DWP by CHDA (assuming a single collated report is submitted to the DWP). If individual reports per assessment centre are submitted to the DWP then please provide the most recent WCA outcome report for the Leicester assessment centre.

The associated “Schedule 2.1 (Service Reqts) Annex 5 WCA Outcome Rept” describes the structure of the WCA outcome report. It states that the WCA outcome report contains the following columns (in the same order)

1. TI referral - TI %
2. Comment
3. PBR - SG %
4. Comment
5. PBR - accept (initial referral) %
6. Comment
7. Consultation - SG %
8. Comment
9. Consultation - Treat as LCW %
10. Comment
11. Consultation - 3 Month Prognosis %
12. Comment
13. Consultation - NFCA %
14. Comment
15. Consultation - Uncontrollable condition NFD %
16. Comment

RFI6: Please provide the meaning for columns 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 (including definitions for abbreviations used).

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Service Requirements (WCA outcome report) - Contract with CHDA Limited'.

S.10(1) FOIA states that the Department must comply with section 1(1) of the Act “…promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.”

This means that when it is not relying on a part II exemption and does hold the requested information, it will need to both issue the requester with written confirmation of this and provide the information promptly, and within 20 working days, in order to comply with its obligations under s.10(1).

If the Department is not relying upon a part II exemption and does not hold the information then its only requirement under s.10(1) will be to inform the requester of this in writing promptly and within 20 working days.

It also follows that a general response (such as a holding letter or acknowledgement) issued within 20 working days, but which fails to confirm or deny whether the information is held, or provide information, will not be sufficient to comply with the requirements of s.10(1).

Therefore as the Department has failed to provide a response no later than the twentieth working day following receipt it is now in breach of s.10(1).

It is common for the Department to justify its failure to comply with S.10(1) by citing s.10(3), the need for an extension to consider the public interest. This is a flawed argument as explained by the Commissioner in his published guidance:

“As section 10(3) only permits extensions for further consideration of the public interest, the additional time cannot be used to determine whether the exemptions themselves are engaged.
64. This means that the authority should have identified the relevant exemptions, and satisfied itself that they are applicable, within the initial 20 working day time limit.”

I look forward to the Department’s prompt and compliant response.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Slater,
 
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information request.
 
 
 
Yours sincerely
 
Correspondence Team |Business Management Team | Health Services
Directorate | Finance Group | Department for Work and Pensions | Green
Zone 2nd Floor, West Wing, Phase 2 | Peel Park | Brunel Way | Blackpool |
FY4 5ES |
 
 
 

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DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Slater,
 
Please see our response to your recent Internal Review request.
 
 
Yours sincerely
 
Correspondence Team |Business Management Team | Health Services
Directorate | Finance Group | Department for Work and Pensions | Green
Zone 2nd Floor, West Wing, Phase 2 | Peel Park | Brunel Way | Blackpool |
FY4 5ES |
 
 
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Service Requirements (WCA outcome report) - Contract with CHDA Limited'.

Thank you for your response (ref FOI 1652) dated 23 June 2016.

I am confused and concerned by the Department’s response. Whilst RFI1, RFI2 & RFI4 are questions RFI3 and RFI5 are requests for information that should be held by the Department according to the contract between the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and CHDA Limited.

RFI3 states: “If a single instance of this spreadsheet is maintained by the DWP please supply me with a copy.”

and;

RFI5: states “Please provide the most recent WCA outcome report submitted to the DWP by CHDA (assuming a single collated report is submitted to the DWP). If individual reports per assessment centre are submitted to the DWP then please provide the most recent WCA outcome report for the Leicester assessment centre.”

Both of these requests for information relate to the WCA outcome reports that are contractually required to be provided by CHDA (originally Maximus) to the Department. To remind the Department Schedule 2.1 (Service Requirements) of the contract with CHDA states:

“42.4. The Supplier must provide management information to the Authority in a monthly report on the above. An example of the content and format (without agreed ranges) of this report is included at Annex 5.”

“55.2. The Supplier will produce a single report covering all aspects of quality, includingperformance and complaints, on a monthly basis. A template for this report will be provided by the Authority, see Annex 5.”

ANNEX 5 of Schedule 2.1 (Service Requirements) describes the required Medical Quality Report. Part of this is the “WCA outcome report”. The contractual requirement is stated as:

“Complete the spreadsheet – comments to be provided for those centres either identified by the Authority or who are outside the agreed range.”

HDAS - Schedule 2.1 (Service Reqts) Annex 5 WCA Outcome Rept specifies the structure and content to the required WCA outcome report.

To be absolutely clear, is the Department stating that it does not hold any WCA outcome reports from CHDA? (This would mean that the DWP was allowing CHDA non-compliance with its contractual obligations)

Given the Department’s response please confirm if the Department holds any Medical Quality Reports (as defined in ANNEX 5 of Schedule 2.1 (Service Requirements)) from CHDA?

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
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J Newman left an annotation ()

As you probably know the most common expansion of PBR is "Payment By Results". Ominous.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Service Requirements (WCA outcome report) - Contract with CHDA Limited'.

Does the Department intent to comply with the FOIA in respect of this request and actually provide an answer or should I just hand the matter over to the Information Commissioner?

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

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DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Slater,
 
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Correspondence Team |Business Management Team | Health Services
Directorate | Finance Group | Department for Work and Pensions | Green
Zone 2nd Floor, West Wing, Phase 2 | Peel Park | Brunel Way | Blackpool |
FY4 5ES |
 
 
 

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DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Slater,
 
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Correspondence Team |Business Management Team | Health Services
Directorate | Finance Group | Department for Work and Pensions | Green
Zone 2nd Floor, West Wing, Phase 2 | Peel Park | Brunel Way | Blackpool |
FY4 5ES |
 
 
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Service Requirements (WCA outcome report) - Contract with CHDA Limited'.

Thank you for your response. As this is the first time that the Department has admitted that it holds the information and is citing s.43 the Commissioner will require me to submit an IRR prior to acting on my complaint. Therefore please revisit this decision and make sure that the Department can justify its position according the the Commissioner's guidance for s.43 (see link below)

https://ico.org.uk/media/1178/awareness_...

I fail to see how the requested information comes close to satisfying the prejudice test. Even if it does the public interest test in understanding how CHDA is performing is overwhelming.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Service Requirements (WCA outcome report) - Contract with CHDA Limited'.

Does the Department have any intention of responding to my IRR of 31 August 2016?

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

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DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Slater,
 
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
DWP Health Services Correspondence Team
 
 

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John Slater left an annotation ()

For those interested a complaint was made to the ICO in September 2016 about the DWP handling of this RFI. I will provide updates as the case progresses.

J Newman left an annotation ()

DWP's response here quite possibly rates as the worst case of ineptitude and/or deception that I have seen on this website.

John Slater left an annotation ()

The investigation by the Commissioner is still ongoing. At this stage I get the impression that the Commissioner may have been convinced by the DWP arguments. If the Decision Notice is issued in favour of the DWP it is highly likely that I will appeal the decision to the FTT.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Service Requirements (WCA outcome report) - Contract with CHDA Limited'.

In light of the Commissioner's decision notice FS50645849 where she concluded that S.43 is not engaged will the Department now disclose the requested information?

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

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John Slater left an annotation ()

The Commissioner has issued a decision notice FS50645849 concluding that S.43 is not engaged and that the DWP should disclose the requested information. The DWP now has 28 calendar days to appeal this decision.

DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear J Slater,
 
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
DWP Health Services Correspondence Team
 
 

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John Slater left an annotation ()

Given that the 28 days to lodge an appeal and the 35 days to disclose the information have both now passed I can only assume that the DWP has in fact appealed the Commissioner's decision notice but not had the courtesy to tell me.

John Slater left an annotation ()

The Commissioner has informed me that the DWP lodged its appeal against the decision notice on 25 April 2017.

Anon left an annotation ()

I'm very interested in an update to this.

John Slater left an annotation ()

The DWP appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal is progressing and an oral hearing will take place in November 2017.

C Robinson left an annotation ()

Dear Mr Slater:
I see the DWP are going to waste Taxpayers' money fighting another refusal to comply with your request.
Thankfully, there are people like you that will take them to task.

S. Ali left an annotation ()

Thank you Mr Slater for being brave and resilient enough to do this. Can you summarise the final outcome.

John Slater left an annotation ()

Hi S. Ali,
The DWP eventually disclosed the information. It didn't show anything particularly troubling so it's difficult to see why it fought so hard to refuse. I have to assume that its default position is to refuse such requests regardless of the information.
John