The only means member of the public may contact the DHSC is via its ‘webform’.
Although the sender may select the topic of his communication, the webform for this submission is same for all.
Information handling is governed by the Data Protection Act and any requests for information, FOIs, by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Paragraph 8 – 2- (c) states that sender should have a copy of his FOI, “capable of being used for subsequent reference.”
When the sender completes the ‘webform’, and presses the ‘Submit’ button, the message is sent to the DHSC. However, at that specific time, the sender has NOTHING to prove that he had sent anything at all, therefore the message is at odds with para 8-2(c).
The DHSC is in NO way obliged to confirm the receipt of the message. It is obliged to comply with telling the sender if the information is held by the authority and if any fee is due to be levied.
The DHSC has installed relatively recently almost an instant response system, sending the individual a copy of his message.
