Dear Sir or Madam,

Would you please provide for me under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 information to the following questions. I believe all the
information I would like provided will be known by the Cabinet
Office Director of Finance Mr Jerry Page. Mr Page I understand
would have had dealings with all the subjects I have requested
information on.

In 2007 the Cabinet Office Guard Service at 70 Whitehall and
Admiralty House were privatised. Ecovert fm Security were the
successful company who won the contract. The Cabinet Office Guard
Service Staff were all transferred over to Ecovert fm Security.

Was this contract put out to tender?

If not, why not?

Were Ecovert fm Security given a financial incentive (from public
funds) to take this contract?

What was the financial budget for the Cabinet Office Guard Service
in the 12 months before they were privatised?

What has been the cost to the Cabinet Office since the
privatisation of the Cabinet Office Guard Service for Ecovert fm
security to provide the security at 70 Whitehall and Admiralty
House?

Following this outsourcing has there been any financial savings for
the public benefit and what are the figures to prove this?

Yours faithfully,

Paul Griffiths

CABINET OFFICE REFERENCE: FOI257692

Dear Mr Griffiths

Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received on 15/07/2008 and is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team
Cabinet Office
E: [Cabinet Office request email]

The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications carried on them recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.

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Dear Paul,

Freedom of Information requests 257690, 257692 and 257696

Please see attached letter with regards to your requests under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If you have any queries about this letter please contact me. Please
remember to quote the above reference numbers in any future
communication.

Regards,

Tom

Tom Roundell Greene

Policy Adviser

CabinetOffice

Sustainable Development Team

Tel 020 7276 5440

Fax 020 7276 5476

[mobile number]

E-mail [email address]

Web www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk <http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/>

Making government work better

P Play your part in saving the environment - please do not print this
email unless absolutely necessary

The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications carried on them recorded, to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.

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Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for sending the information for my Freedom of Information
requests, references FOI257690, FOI257692 and FOI257696.

Although you have provided some information it does contain a
number of sections where information has been withheld with
references to Section 43 " Commercial Interests" of the Freedom of
Information Act(FOIA) without any further explanation. This is not
allowed under the FOIA - a valid Section 17 Refusal Notice MUST be
provided [1].

For each data item withheld under Section 43, the following must be
provided,

*Details of the exact FOIA exemption - either 43.1 Trade Secrets or
43.2 Commercial Interests.

*Details of who would be prejudiced [2-p4].

*A "Public Interest Test" [3] where the arguments for and against
release of the information should be discussed.

*If release of information could prejudice a third party they
should be consulted with - see [4 - section G (a) p10] and [5].

In addition much information from recent public sector contracts
should be made available especially if they are from after 2005,
the start date of the FOIA - see [6].

Therefore I am requesting an Internal Review and hope to receive
further information to my FOIA requests.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Griffiths

Dear Mr Griffiths,

Thank you for Internal Review request dated 09/09/2008. This is receiving attention.

Kind Regards,

FOI Team
Cabinet Office
E: [Cabinet Office request email]

The Cabinet Office computer systems may be monitored and communications carried on them recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.

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