Information requested
It has been reported in the Sunday Times that your organisation is investigating billing irregularities in the private eye cataract market. Could you please confirm that this is the case and which companies you are looking into? I believe this is in the public interest and given it is already published it would be good to verify the accuracy of the statement.
NHSCFA response
The NHSCFA considers that the duty to confirm or deny whether information is held is exempt under Section 31(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This exemption applies where confirming or denying whether information is held would or would be likely to prejudice law enforcement activities.
In applying exemption 31(3) we have had to balance the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosing the information. The attached annex to this letter sets out the exemption in full, as well as the factors the Authority considered when deciding that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Factors for withholding:
- Providing confirmation or denial in relation to any particular investigative activity, including identifying organisations that may be subject to consideration or investigation, could compromise the effectiveness of counter fraud activity
- Confirmation or denial could alert parties to investigative interest, influence behaviour, affect evidence preservation or prejudice current or future activity.
Factors for Disclosure:
- NHS Counter Fraud Authority believes in transparency, accountability and openness with how public money is spent.