NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Intergrated Care Board

The complainant has requested the cost of care provided to a specific address. The above public authority refused to confirm or deny that the information was held, eventually relying on section 41 of FOIA (breach of confidence) in order to do so. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority was entitled to rely on section 41 of FOIA to refuse to confirm or deny that the information was held. The public authority breached section 17 of FOIA as it failed to issue a refusal notice, citing all the exemptions on which it came to rely, within 20 working days. The Commissioner does not require further steps to be taken.