FOI-03212

##Request
<p><i>‘1.   Explain how a case can be “Full Payment Made” but not “Cancelled/Cancelled Active”. Provide totals by year/system. <p>

2.         Provide counts of all cases where:
o          Paid in full but not cancelled within 7/30/90 days.
o          Easement applied but still active.
o          PCN Sent Date is after a recorded Payment Date. <p>

3.         Confirm whether any of these cases were pursued, escalated, or referred to recovery. <p>

4.         Provide the data dictionary, system change logs, and business rules for: “Cancelled”, “Cancelled Active”, “Full Payment Made”, “Easement Applied”, and “Ex Conf Active”. <p>

5.         Re-issue corrected FOI-03057 files with standardised fields and a definitive “Finalised/Closed” status. <p>

6.         Confirm how many patients were wrongly pursued and what redress will be offered.’ </i></p><p>

On 13 October 2025 we sent you the following clarification request

Can you please clarify what is meant by ‘pursued, escalated, or referred to recovery’? <p>

On 14 October 2025 you clarified your request as follows <p>

<p><i>‘For clarity, “pursued, escalated, or referred to recovery” refers to any instance where the NHSBSA or any third-party acting on its behalf took action to recover or enforce a penalty after a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) was issued. This includes, but is not limited to:

•           Issuing payment demands, reminders, or final demands; <p>
•           Referring cases to internal recovery or external debt-collection agencies; <p>
•           Initiating enforcement or court proceedings; <p>
•           Any manual or automated workflow showing the case was still treated as outstanding after a “Full Payment Made” status was recorded. <p>

This definition should remove any remaining ambiguity. Please now proceed with the full FOI request as submitted, covering all six items originally listed (1 – 6).

The clarification was requested because your own published FOI-03057 datasets contain internal contradictions: cases marked “Full Payment Made” but not “Cancelled/Cancelled Active”; payments recorded before PCNs were sent; and “Easement Applied” cases still flagged as active. These discrepancies indicate possible record-keeping failures that may have led to patients being wrongly pursued for money already settled or never owed.’</i></p>

<b>Response</b>
<p>

<strong>Question 1 - Explain how a case can be “Full Payment Made” but not “Cancelled/Cancelled Active</strong> <p>

The data provided was an extract of the source data held regarding penalty charges issued. The data did not include, for example, the field showing status of each case i.e. whether it has been closed. This data was not requested as part of your clarified request. Full payment made and cancelled are mutually exclusive i.e. a case where full payment is made could not be cancelled and vice versa. <p>

<strong>Question 2 - Provide counts of all cases where: <p>
o          Paid in full but not cancelled within 7/30/90 days. <p>
o          Easement applied but still active. <p>
o          PCN Sent Date is after a recorded Payment Date. <p></strong>

There are 0 cases which have been paid in full but not cancelled within 7/30/90 days.

It is possible that an easement may have been applied but the case is still active as full payment or no payment, may not have been made yet.

There are 34,583 cases where an easement has been applied but the case still has an open status. This is from 1 January 2022 to 4 November 2025.

There are 0 cases where there PCN sent date is after a recorded payment date. <p>

<strong>Question 3 - Confirm whether any of these cases were pursued, escalated, or referred to recovery.


For clarity, “pursued, escalated, or referred to recovery” refers to any instance where the NHSBSA or any third-party acting on its behalf took action to recover or enforce a penalty after a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) was issued. This includes, but is not limited to:  <p>
  
•           Issuing payment demands, reminders, or final demands;  <p>
•           Referring cases to internal recovery or external debt-collection agencies;  <p>
•           Initiating enforcement or court proceedings;  <p>
•           Any manual or automated workflow showing the case was still treated as outstanding after a “Full Payment Made” status was recorded.  <p>
  
This definition should remove any remaining ambiguity. Please now proceed with the full FOI request as submitted, covering all six items originally listed (1 – 6).  <p>
  
The clarification was requested because your own published FOI-03057 datasets contain internal contradictions: cases marked “Full Payment Made” but not “Cancelled/Cancelled Active”; payments recorded before PCNs were sent; and “Easement Applied” cases still flagged as active. These discrepancies indicate possible record-keeping failures that may have led to patients being wrongly pursued for money already settled or never owed.</strong> <p>


I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the requested information; however, the requested data contains information which could be used to avoid paying charges and therefore commit fraud. <p>

This information is exempt under section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA (law enforcement) as disclosure would prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. <p>

Section 31 is a qualified, prejudice-based exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that not only does the information have to prejudice one of the purposes listed, but before the information can be withheld, the public interest in preventing that prejudice must outweigh the public interest in disclosure. <p>

<strong>Public Interest Test:</strong>

Considerations in favour of disclosure: <p>
•	Public interest in openness and transparency of public authority dealings.  <p>
•	Contribute to public understanding of the NHSBSA’s procedures and actions regarding dental and prescription charges and penalty charge notices.

Considerations against disclosure: <p>
•	Public interest in avoiding prejudice to the prevention or detection of crime.  <p>
•	The legal duty to ensure that fraud is prevented against services provided by the NHSBSA.  <p>
•	Releasing the data would provide the public with information which could be used to avoid paying charges and therefore commit fraud.  <p>
•	There would be a financial impact to the NHS if correct charges are not being paid. <p>

Conclusion: <p>

The NHSBSA recognises that there is a public interest in disclosure of the information to promote transparency and assurance of NHSBSA's exemption checking service processes.  <p>

The NHSBSA releases Knowledge Base articles publicly which provide information and transparency regarding penalty charges: <p>

https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/category/?id=CAT-01005&parentid=    <p>

These Knowledge Base articles coupled with information already in the public domain contribute significantly to public transparency and understanding of the service.  <p>

You can find further information at the following links:
•	NHS Penalty Charges and Enquiry Letters: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-penalty-charges-and-enquiry-letters <p>
•	How to challenge a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN): https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/respond-your-letter <p>
•	How penalty charges are calculated: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/understanding-penalty-charges <p>

However, with regard to the requested data, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, as more weight is afforded to the arguments outlined above to avoid prejudice to the prevention or detection of crime. <p>

Please see the following link to view the section 31 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/31 <p>

<strong>Queston 4 - Provide the data dictionary, system change logs, and business rules for: “Cancelled”, “Cancelled Active”, “Full Payment Made”, “Easement Applied”, and “Ex Conf Active”.</strong> <p>

A copy of the data dictionary is attached. <p>

<strong>Question 5 - Re-issue corrected FOI-03057 files with standardised fields and a definitive “Finalised/Closed” status.</strong> <p>

A copy of the data is attached.

For full context on the question and caveats that were provided please refer to the Open Data Portal via the link below:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-03057 <p>

<strong>Question 6 - Confirm how many patients were wrongly pursued and what redress will be offered.</strong> <p>

There are 0 cases where a patient has been wrongly pursued. An enquiry letter is issued when no valid exemption is found. If a patient can provide evidence that they were exempt at the time of collection or treatment, then no further action will be taken. <p>

<strong>Data Queries</strong> <p>

Please contact <a href=mailto:foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>  ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. <p>

<strong>Reusing the data and copyright</strong> <p>

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact  <a href=mailto:communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a> This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ 

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.


Tags: Easement, PCN, Prescription Exemption Checking Service
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log