post Commercial Manager Libraries and Archives and 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 18th 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 be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/09/066 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards
Jemila Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Officer, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.102, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Dear Mr Braithwaite,

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act (the Act), asking for "documents/information relating to
the post of Commercial Manager Libraries and Archives and Kent on Canvas".

I have been advised by Kent Libraries & Archives that this post is
currently on a temporary basis, as Kent on Canvas is a trial/pilot
project. Accordingly, there is information held regarding the terms and
conditions of the post that constitutes personal data as it reflects the
personal circumstances of the current post holder. This information is
withheld under Section 40 of the Act.

Libraries & Archives also hold a briefing note to the Communities
Directorate Senior Management Team regarding income generation,
which includes details of the feasibility/developmental work intended for
this post as part of the pilot, and an email to the current post holder
which covers the same ground. However, Kent Libraries & Archives have
stated that this information is currently commercially sensitive, as
disclosure would risk exposing marketing and future growth strategy to
potential competitors. Accordingly I must advise you that this information
is currently withheld under Section 43 of the Act, and that it is deemed
that the greater public interest lies in safeguarding the potential for
income generation which will benefit the community by 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/09/066.

Yours sincerely,

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

References

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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...

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Dear Mr Braithwaite

REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT DECISION- FOI/09/066

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.

Two sources of information relating to the post of Commercial Manager
Libraries and Archives and Kent on Canvas are in existence. The first is
a contract of employment of the post holder and the second is a briefing
note to the Communities Directorate Senior Management Team regarding
income generation.

Having considered the matter carefully I have concluded that it would
not be appropriate to release the contract of employment of the post
holder as this is personal information about the post holder and as such
is exempt from disclosure by sections 40(2) and 40(3)(a)(i) of the Act
in that disclosure would be in breach of the first data protection
principle.

My findings on this point are as follows

1.The information which you seek is personal data as the data requested
relates to a living individual who can be identified from those data.

2. I do not accept that there is a legitimate public interest in the
disclosure of the data as the precise terms and conditions of the
individual's employment do not need to be public knowledge in order for
the public to understand what the project is and how it is managed. I
note further that this is a temporary appointment and if the post is
made permanent it will be advertised and will therefore be in the public
domain.

3. Accordingly, I do not accept that if the public interest is to be met
disclosure of the terms and conditions of employment of the post holder
are required.

4. Neither do I accept that the data can be disclosed without causing
unwarranted harm to the interests of the post holder. This is because it
has not been decided whether the project will continue beyond September
2009. If the project does continue beyond that date the post will need
to be reassessed and re-advertised. The details of the post would be in
the public domain at that point in time. Given that the current post
holder will only hold that post in its current form until September this
year at the latest, in my view the public interest in the disclosure of
the post holder's contract of employment would be disproportionate to
the unwelcome public intrusion into his or her private life that the
disclosure of the contract of employment would represent. I would also
note that if the project ends in September the Council will be happy to
release details of the remit of the post at that time.

With regard to the disclosure of the briefing note 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 and future growth 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
majority of information contained within the briefing note will form a
brief that will go out to tender in the open market. At this time the
information will become publicly available.

Until that time I am satisfied that disclosure of the briefing note may
well prejudice the commercial interests of Kent County Council under
section 34(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/09/045 and FOI/09/046 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

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