The Information Commissioner has formally criticised East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust after it failed to respond to the majority of freedom of information requests on time throughout 2025/26, with compliance rates never rising above 56%.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) issued a practice recommendation to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust on 22 May 2026, following sustained failure to meet the statutory 20 working day deadline for responding to FOI requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Figures provided by the Trust to the ICO show compliance rates of 49%, 53%, 42% and 56% across the four quarters of the 2025/26 financial year - well below the expected standard - alongside a backlog of 109 overdue requests.
The Commissioner concluded that the Trust's request handling practices do not conform to Part 4 of the section 45 Code of Practice, which sets out the clear requirement for public authorities to respond to requests promptly and within the statutory timeframe.
During engagement with the ICO, the Trust acknowledged a range of underlying factors contributing to its poor performance. These include resource and capacity pressures within its information governance team, difficulties recruiting and retaining appropriately trained staff, a lack of organisation-wide understanding of FOIA requirements, poor quality responses from internal services requiring reworking, and weaknesses in escalation and accountability processes.
The ICO noted that the delays were not confined to a single business area, but reflected broader, organisation-wide challenges in the Trust's request handling processes.
The practice recommendation sets out eight requirements. The Trust must:
- Produce and publish an action plan within 35 calendar days, incorporating a lessons-learned exercise to identify root causes of delay at each stage of the handling process
- Achieve at least 90% compliance and clear its backlog by 7 December 2026
- Ensure requests are responded to within the statutory timeframe
- Respond promptly to deadlines set by ICO case officers
- Put in place clear procedures for managing late responses, including escalation responsibilities
- Ensure training provides sufficient coverage to maintain compliance if key staff leave
- Maintain adequate staffing levels and ensure senior leaders have clear visibility of FOI performance
- Publish its information access request statistics — including outstanding and overdue figures — on its website
The Commissioner opted for a practice recommendation rather than an enforcement notice, citing the Trust's open engagement with the ICO and its willingness to share a proactive action plan. The recommendation is intended to formalise the Commissioner's concerns and support the Trust in improving compliance.
However, the ICO has made clear that failure to comply with the recommendation could lead to a failure to comply with FOIA, and may in turn result in the issuing of an enforcement notice. An adverse comment in a report to Parliament also remains a possibility.
The Trust must write to the Commissioner by 7 December 2026 to confirm compliance.
