Mr H Kitt

[email address]

27 May 2010

Our ref: 2200

Dear Mr Kitt,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST

I refer to your Freedom of Information Act request which was received on 16 March 2010.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act creates a statutory right of access to recorded information held by public authorities i.e. the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). This right is to be informed whether the information requested is held by the public authority or not, and if the information exists, for it to be communicated. A public authority must reply to such a request promptly and in any event, not later than twenty working days after receipt.

The individual's right to information is not unqualified and subject to a number of exceptions and exemptions that are contained within the Act. The majority of these exemptions are qualified, that is to say the decision whether to confirm or deny the information's existence or to disclose the requested material, will be subject to a public interest.

Please see below our response to your questions raised in your request.

I can confirm the following figures are exact (including VAT) and represent costs associated with www.cps.gov.uk and its Welsh sister site.

In response to question two, the costs incurred in the development and management of the CPS corporate website is not recorded in the format you have requested.

The CPS IT Business partner Logica UK Ltd provides hosting and support of the CPS corporate website whilst ECRU provide web publishing support.

The question you have raised is not a request for recorded information; under the Act a public authority has no obligation to provide estimates.

The information you have requested in questions five and six are exempt from disclosure by virtue of sections 41 and 43 (2) of the Act.

Information provided in confidence is exempt information if it was obtained by the public authority from any other person (including another public authority) and the disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise under this Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence by that or any other person. Section 41 is an absolute exemption and does not require the balance of interest test. Information will generally have been specifically requested by the CPS and supplied with a reasonable expectation it would not be made public.

Section 43 (2) of the Act provides that, information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). This is a qualified exemption and will require the balance of the public interest test.

The CPS acknowledges that there is a strong public interest in the need for transparency in the accountability of public funds and the way in which public money is being used effectively. In addition, to ensure that government departments are getting value for money when purchasing goods and services. However, the CPS considers that the public interest factors against disclosure outweigh the public interest for disclosing.

Releasing information may have a detrimental impact on the ability of the CPS to obtain the appropriate suppliers to cater for the specialist needs and requirements of the organisation. Further more the CPS position could be weakened when buying from a competitive environment if it were to reveal information falling within the procurement process. Such information could be potentially useful to future suppliers when proposing services to the CPS, which would adversely affect the effective use of public money. Disclosure could make companies or individuals reluctant to provide the CPS with commercially sensitive information in the future and consequently undermine the ability of the department to fulfil its role.

You may be interested that a tendering exercise was carried out for a three year contract, estimated total value £45,000. Due to the value, a full Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) exercise was not undertaken. Seven suppliers were asked to bid after being identified as potentially suitable by the Central Office of Information (COI) and the CPS Communications Directorate. Only two bids were received and the contract was awarded to ECRU.

If you are unhappy with the decisions made in relation to your request from the Crown Prosecution Service you may ask for an internal review. You should contact the Information Management Unit (Freedom of Information Appeals), 50 Ludgate Hill, London, EC4M 7EX.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

J Alham

Information Management Unit

Tel: 0203 357 0000

Fax: 0203 357 0229[Author ID1: at Tue May 11 11:27:00 2010 ][Author ID1: at Tue May 11 11:27:00 2010 ]

E-mail: [CPS request email]

2

The CPS incorporates RCPO

Business Information Systems Directorate, Crown Prosecution Service, 50 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7EX

www.cps.gov.uk