Contract and costs of Landmark Information Group

Dear Sir or Madam,

In around 2006 the DCLG entered into a contract with Landmark
Information Group for maintenance of the database of Energy
Performance Certificates, Display Energy Certificates and Energy
Assessors.[1][2]

Please may I have:

* copies of all contracts and service agreements between the DCLG
and Landmark Information Group relating to these databases

* detailed costs to the government for these contracts

* the revenue raised by the Landmark from fees made possible by
this government concession

I am in particular seeking details of any added costs for serving
this contract caused by changes due to SI1900(2009).[3]

[1] http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=...

[2] http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=...

[3]
http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si...

Yours faithfully,

Julian Todd

Dear Phil Beschizza,

Ref F0003489

Thank you for your response to my FOI request for the contracts and
costs with the Landmark Information Group citing what appears to be
a thoroughly standard Section 43 (Commercial interests) exemption
against the disclosure of the contract.

You included three points in favour of the case:

1) The contracts, and service agreements with Landmark are
extensive and do contain commercially sensitive information.

2) Disclosure of Landmark's contracts and service agreements would
place them at a disadvantage in any subsequent bidding process when
the EPC database operating contract came up for renewal.

3) Potentially, there are also some details which need to be
excluded because of system security issues.

The guidelines for the Act require you to disclose as much of the
information as possible. The fact that a document contains exempt
information does not preclude disclosure of the document with
redactions. This clearly applies to points (1) and (3).

As to point (2), the commercial interest exemption does not extend
to protecting the unfair commercial advantages that Landmark has as
a result of being party to the details of what became the
successful bid. The point therefore argues for disclosure of this
information so that there is a level playing field among all
contractors when the contract is up for renewal.

Finally, I draw your attention to a statement made by the current
information commissioner:

"It should be absolutely routine that details of contracts, value
of contracts, expenses, minutes of top-level meetings just should
be up there on departmental websites."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/2...

Please pass this message on to the person who handles internal
reviews in the Department for Communities and Local Government

Yours faithfully,

Julian Todd

Dear Bill Feinstein,

Thank you for reviewing my FOI request concerning the contracts
with the Landmark Information Group.

I look forward to the imminent disclosure of these contracts
following this internal review of this "properly handled" request.

Yours sincerely,

Julian Todd

Dear Phil Beschizza,

Thank you for sending me copies of the two contracts with Landmark
Information Group for managing the energy certificates in your
email of 7 April.

Unfortunately there appears to have been a number of redactions,
particularly of any and all financial information. I don't know why
this could be, since Clause 31 in each contract states quite
clearly:

"The Authority shall be responsible for determining in its absolute
discretion whether any Information is exempt from disclosure in
accordance with the provisions of FOIA or the Environmental
Information Regulations."

In addition, Clause 31 does not take the opportunity to suggest
that any of these numbers or lists (in the same document) should be
withheld from disclosure.

Can you either release the contracts in full, or explain and
justify each redaction that has been made in terms of the
exemptions?

Yours sincerely,

Julian Todd

Dear Phil Beschizza,

Thank you for updating me as to the progress of my request for the
Landmark information contracts.

I have verified that many of the wholly non-sensitive financial
figures (relating to matters such as quantities of insurance
coverage) as well as references to further documents[1] in the
contracts have finally been disclosed.

What remains redacted in the March 2008 contract includes Annex 1
to Schedule 6 (Summary - Baseline financial model)[2] and Annex to
Schedule 19 (Termination for convenience caps)[3].

I look forward to reading a justification for these redactions
which I expect conceals an outline of the commercial benefits that
have been specifically granted to this private company.

[1]
http://scraperwiki.com/cropper/u/page_13...

[2]
http://scraperwiki.com/cropper/u/page_92...

[3]
http://scraperwiki.com/cropper/u/page_14...

Yours sincerely,

Julian Todd