Kent County Councils impact statement for KCC's Kent on Canvas

Dear N. Braithwaite,

Thank you for your email

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, I will endeavour
to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later than 13th
February 2009 (20 working days from date of receipt).

I will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information,
or if there are exemptions to disclosure or any cost for providing the
information.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Swan
Information Governance Officer (Communities)
3rd Floor, Invicta House, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1XX
01622-221621 (internal: 7000 1621)
[1][email address]

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Dear N. Braithwaite,

Further to my acknowledgement of your request I have been asked by
Libraries & Archives to seek clarification so that it can be addressed.

You have requested:

* "Kent County Councils impact statement for KCC's Kent on Canvas"
(FOI/09/045)

It would be most helpful if you would please clarify the context within
which you would expect KCC to hold information relating to the impact of
Kent on Canvas?

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Swan
Information Governance Officer (Communities)
3rd Floor, Invicta House, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1XX
01622-221621 (internal: 7000 1621)
[1][email address]

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I will not see your email until 26th January. If you need to speak to
someone in Communities Policy & Resources please try Kym Foster on
Ext.1197. For general advice on Freedom of Information/Data Protection,
you can try Caroline Dodge(Ext.1652), Pauline Banks (Ext.6915), Michelle
Hunt (Ext.6692), or Sandra Town (Ext.1790.)

Andrew Swan
Information Governance Officer
Communities Directorate

Dear Mr Braithwaite,

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), asking for "Kent County Council's impact statement
for KCC's Kent on Canvas".

I have been advised by Kent Libraries & Archives that there is one
document held that relates to your request, which outlines a strategy for
the generation of income from Kent's cultural assets, including Kent
on Canvas.

Kent Libraries & Archives have stated that this information is currently
commercially sensitive, as disclosure would risk exposing marketing
strategy to potential competitors. Accordingly I must advise you that
this information is currently withheld under Section 43 FOIA.

Before deciding to withhold information under S.43 FOIA, KCC must consider
where the public interest lies. In this particular case it is felt that,
at this point in time, the greater public interest lies in safeguarding
the potential for income generation by KCC from this project, which can
only be beneficial to the community in terms of supporting the
services provided by KCC.

If you are unhappy with this response, please follow our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/09/045.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Swan
Information Governance Officer (Communities)
3rd Floor, Invicta House, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1XX
01622-221621 (internal: 7000 1621)
[2][email address]

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1. http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
2. mailto:[email address]

Dear Mr Braithwaite,

Thank you for your email.

I am sorry you are unhappy with my colleague's response to your request
for information. As we used section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act
(commercial interests) to withhold information you had requested from you,
I assume this is the reason why you want us to review our response to your
request. However you will need to clarify this before we can proceed
further.

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Braithwaite

REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT DECISION- FOI/09/045

Thank you for your e-mail dated 13 February 2009. I apologise on behalf of
Kent County Council for the delay in referring this matter for a review.

I have considered the exchange of correspondence between you and Andrew
Swan.

The reason for not disclosing Kent County Council's impact statement for
Kent on Canvass at the time of your original request was essentially that
disclosure would expose marketing strategy to potential competitors.

I am able to inform you that the Kent on Canvass Project was set up as a
one year pilot. At the end of this period, if the project continues, the
rationale for the project and the technical specifications will form a
brief that will go out to tender in the open market. At this time the
information will become publicly available.

A decision has not yet been taken as to whether or not the project will
continue and until that time I am satisfied that disclosure of the impact
statement may well prejudice the commercial interests of Kent County
Council under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act in that it
may prejudice the Council's ability to put together the most effective
tender and ensure that the best package for Council tax payers is
achieved.

Before deciding to withhold information under S.43 FOIA, I have considered
whether the public interest in withholding this information outweighs the
public interest in disclosing the same. In this particular case, given the
above explanation, in my view the greater public interest lies in
safeguarding the potential for income generation by KCC from this project,
which can used to beneficial effect in the wider community.

Please note that I am dealing with your request for a review of decisions
number FOI/09/046 and FOI/09/066 separately and I will be writing to you
again about this soon.

I trust that this explanation now satisfies your enquiry. However, if you
are still unhappy with the decision, you can appeal to the Information
Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the Freedom of Information Act
2000. Details of what you need to do, should you wish to pursue this
course of action, are available from the Information Commissioner's
website

[1]http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.u...

Yours sincerely

Best Regards
Mark Radford
Mark Radford
Senior Solicitor,
Litigation, Employment and Education Team, Legal and Democratic Services,
Room 1.110 Sessions House, Kent County Council, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1XQ.

Tel - (01622) 694396
[2]www.kent.gov.uk/legal

References

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2. http://www.kent.gov.uk/legal