Learning Disability Supported Living Packages

Dear Wolverhampton City Council,

Please could you provide a list of ALL supported living learning
disability care packages (defined as the care package for a single
individual) paid for by the Council for which a weekly fee of
greater or equal to £1000 per week is paid for the care part of the
package.

The specific information requested for each supported living
learning disability care package is as follows:

a) A list of all supported Living Learning Disability Care packages
for which a weekly fee of greater than £1000 per week is paid for
the care part of the package
b) For each supported living learning disability care package, for
which a fee of greater or equal to £1000 per week is paid for the
care part of the package, the name of the organisation that
provides the care.
c) For each supported living learning disability care package, for
which a fee of greater or equal to £1000 per week is paid for the
care part of the package, the date
the care package commenced with the organisation that provides the
care.
d) For each supported living learning disability package for which
a fee of greater or equal to £1000 per week is paid for the care
part of the package, the weekly fee
paid by the Council.
e) For each supported living learning disability package for which
a fee of greater or equal to £1000 per week is paid for the care
part of the package, the price paid by the council for each hour of
care provided

Yours faithfully,

Nindi Kaar

Dear Wolverhampton City Council,

This FOI request is now overdue. Could you please address it
immediately. You will be aware that you are now in contravention of
the law.

Yours faithfully,

Nindi Kaar

Dear FOI,

Is this response ready yet?

Yours sincerely,

Nindi Kaar

Dear Wolverhampton City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Wolverhampton City
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Learning Disability Supported
Living Packages'. I note that your response has been addended to a
response sent to Linda Burnip rather than to me

I am not satisfied with your failure to respond to part e of my
request

Thank you for your response to my FOI request concerning Learning
Disability Care Packages citing what appears to be a thoroughly
standard Section 43 (Commercial interests) exemption against the
disclosure of this information.
You included one argument in your favour

a) Disclosure of the information may affect fair pricing and could
mean that providers could be undercut by competitors during future
tendering processes

The first point that I would like to make you aware of is that the
guidelines for the FOI Act require you to disclose as much of the
information as possible. The fact that there may be some exempt
information does not preclude disclosure of information with
appropriate redactions. This would clearly apply in this case.
Furthermore the commercial interest exemption does not extend to
protecting the unfair commercial advantages that providers have as
a result of being party to the details of what are successful bids
and successful contracts. The point therefore argues for disclosure
of this information so that there is a level playing field among
all contractors were the contracts to be up for renewal.
Moreover I draw your attention to a statement made by Information
Commissioner, Chris Graham:

"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."
I should not need to outline the well-established principle that it
is in the public interest to publish contracts with suppliers in
order to create a fair marketplace. Numerous decisions by the
Commissioner and the Tribunal which you will be aware of attest to
that.

When it comes to matters of the public interest you will be aware
that the Information Commissioner has supported the disclosure of
information in many cases making amongst others the following
points as benefits of disclosure to encourage disclosure of
information by public bodies:
 furthering understanding of and participation in debate about the
issues of the day.
 promoting accountability and transparency regarding the spending
of public money.
 improving decision-making by obliging officials to make reasoned
explanations for their decisions.
 allowing individuals and companies to understand decisions made
which affect their lives and enabling them to challenge those
decisions.


I would emphasise that many public authorities release the
requested information and details of their contracts with private
vendors in line with the Freedom of Information Act. You will note
that the exemption for commercial interest under the Act (section
43) is a qualified exemption, which means information can only be
withheld if it is in the public’s interest. The public have an
interest in knowing the terms of contracts awarded by public
authorities, whether or not public money changes hands immediately.

It is also of note that the Information Commissioner has already
rejected efforts on a similar to yours to withhold information from
public scrutiny. He has said that given that providers to the
agreement are aware of its current terms, and of the fact that a
renegotiation is possible, the Commissioner has considered that the
ability to renegotiate the agreement at a later point in time will
not be significantly damaged by the disclosure of the information.
Neither base negotiation terms, nor any future aspirational terms
are included within the information. Hence no planned terms, held
for the purposes of instigating a future renegotiation attempt,
would be released by its disclosure. A disclosure of information
known to both parties at this time will not therefore shift the
commercial balance between the parties to one side or the other.
The Information Commissioner has also noted that businesses wishing
to contract with authorities may, in general, benefit from the
information access rights. Greater access rights to agreements and
tendering information may produce a better understanding of
contract terms which have been successful in the past. This could
benefit the Council, and ultimately tax payers, in that businesses
may amend their practices or suggested terms in order to be more
competitive given their knowledge of previous terms or tenders. The
Commissioner has not therefore accepted the argument that
information should be withheld from disclosure solely on the basis
that to do otherwise could damage business confidence in tendering
or negotiating contracts with public authorities.

Section 43 is a qualified exemption and requires that a public
interest test is carried out in order to decide whether or not the
information should be provided where the exemption in engaged. The
test is whether the public interest in disclosing the information
outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption.

It is also apparent that disclosing the information may encourage
open competition and ensure value for money. Interested third
parties will be aware of the intended terms and have a better
understanding as to whether they are able to offer more competitive
terms to the parties. This would benefit the Council if they are
able to obtain a better price, or better terms, for in the future.
As such your decision cannot be therefore in the public interest.

On the side of disclosing the information is the fact that there is
a strong public interest in open and accountable local government.
It is in the public interest for authorities to be open and
transparent as possible when carrying out their functions in order
that the public may scrutinise the actions and decisions being
taken by the Council. Disclosure would enhance the public’s ability
to scrutinise the actions of the Council, and provide a clear
understanding of the nature of the agreements that tax payers pay
for.

Finally, assuming that you continue to assert that the Section 43
exemption continues to apply (which evidentially you should not),
can you point to me any available evidence (historical or
otherwise) that could persuade me that this supposition is not
wholly a matter of personal opinion?

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/le...

Yours faithfully,

Nindi Kaar

Dear Wolverhampton City Council,

Please could you let me know when this internal review will be
carried out as I have not heard anything in response to my request
for such a review - not even an acknowledgement

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/le...

Yours faithfully,

Nindi Kaar

Amy Hardiman
Corporate Compliments and Complaints Department
Office of the Chief Executive
Civic Centre
St Peter*s Square
Wolverhampton
WV1 1SH

Dear Ms Hardiman

Could you let me know when my request for internal review will be
dealt with. I have received no indication about this from you

Yours faithfully,

Nindi Kaar

Dear Wolverhampton City Council,

Please update me on the internal review which should have been
completed by now

Yours faithfully,

Nindi Kaar

Dear FOI,

You are now extremely late with the appeal. Please update me

Yours sincerely,

Nindi Kaar

Dear FOI,

what is the position with this please. You have had more than ample
time to respond

Yours sincerely,

Nindi Kaar

Amy Hardiman
FOI & Corporate Complaints Coordinator
Customer Relations Team
Office of the Chief Executive
Wolverhampton City Council

Dear Ms Hardiman

There has been a four months and is a governmental disgrace. PLEASE
PASS TO THE CEO office for a full internal review. YOU ARE IN
BREACH OF THE LAW

Dear FOI,

Where is your reponse

Yours sincerely,

Nindi Kaar