diff --git a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformDataLookupFacade.cs b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformDataLookupFacade.cs
index 27f688bf3c..428bdc4803 100644
--- a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformDataLookupFacade.cs
+++ b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformDataLookupFacade.cs
@@ -60,14 +60,21 @@ public async Task<HashSet<string>> GetCachedExcludedSMUValues()
 
         return excludedSMUData!;
     }
+
     public bool ValidateOutcode(string postcode)
     {
-        string outcode = ValidationHelper.ParseOutcode(postcode)
-            ?? throw new TransformationException("Postcode format invalid");
+        //if a postcode is a dummy postcode then we want to allow the rules to know that we have a dummy postcode
+        if (postcode.StartsWith("ZZ"))
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
 
-        var result = _outcodeClient.GetSingle(outcode).Result;
+        string parsedOutCode = ValidationHelper.ParseOutcode(postcode)
+            ?? throw new TransformationException("Postcode format invalid");
 
+        var result = _outcodeClient.GetSingle(parsedOutCode).Result;
         return result != null;
+
     }
 
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformReasonForRemoval.cs b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformReasonForRemoval.cs
index ee014c9232..034c67a28d 100644
--- a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformReasonForRemoval.cs
+++ b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/CohortDistributionServices/TransformDataService/TransformReasonForRemoval.cs
@@ -2,9 +2,8 @@ namespace NHS.CohortManager.CohortDistributionService;
 
 using Model;
 using Common;
-using Data.Database;
 using System.Text.Json;
-using Apache.Arrow.Types;
+
 
 public class TransformReasonForRemoval : ITransformReasonForRemoval
 {
diff --git a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/ScreeningValidationService/LookupValidation/DataLookupFacadeBreastScreening.cs b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/ScreeningValidationService/LookupValidation/DataLookupFacadeBreastScreening.cs
index a765e9a5e9..d4b57c74df 100644
--- a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/ScreeningValidationService/LookupValidation/DataLookupFacadeBreastScreening.cs
+++ b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/ScreeningValidationService/LookupValidation/DataLookupFacadeBreastScreening.cs
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public bool ValidateOutcode(string postcode)
     {
         var outcode = ValidationHelper.ParseOutcode(postcode);
         _logger.LogInformation("Validating Outcode: {Outcode}", outcode);
-        var result = _outcodeClient.GetSingle(outcode).Result;
+        var result = _outcodeClient.GetSingle(outcode!).Result;
 
         return result != null;
     }
diff --git a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/Shared/Common/ValidationHelper.cs b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/Shared/Common/ValidationHelper.cs
index 76cbdfe34a..2f726395df 100644
--- a/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/Shared/Common/ValidationHelper.cs
+++ b/application/CohortManager/src/Functions/Shared/Common/ValidationHelper.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 namespace Common;
 
 using System.Globalization;
+using System.Linq.Expressions;
 using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
+using Hl7.Fhir.Validation;
+using Model;
 
 public static class ValidationHelper
 {
@@ -109,21 +112,16 @@ public static bool ValidatePostcode(string postcode)
     /// </remarks>
     public static string? ParseOutcode(string postcode)
     {
-        if (postcode == "ZZZSECUR")
-        {
-            return postcode;
-        }
-
         string pattern = @"^([A-Za-z][A-Za-z]?[0-9][A-Za-z0-9]?) ?[0-9][A-Za-z]{2}$";
 
         Match match = Regex.Match(postcode, pattern, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+
         if (!match.Success)
         {
             return null;
         }
 
         string outcode = match.Groups[1].Value;
-
         return outcode;
     }