The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust – Violation Found (United Kingdom, 2026)

The DPA became aware of the poor Freedom of Information (FOI) performance of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (the controller) from a public website and following a complaint. Therefore, the DPA requested the FOI statistics for the last two full financial quarters of 2025 from the controller. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires a public authority to inform people whether it holds information they have requested and to communicate it to them within 20 working days of receipt of their request. Based on the provided statistics, among other things, the controller’s FOI compliance rate was 26%, with a backlog of 95 requests. The DPA issued an enforcement notice to the controller, requiring it to comply with Section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for each FOI request unanswered within the statutory 20 working days. Furthermore, the DPA required the controller to devise and publish an action plan with measures to mitigate delays. A failure to comply with the enforcement notice may lead to written certification to the High Court under section 54 of FOIA, with the possibility of holding the controller in contempt of court.