Please find below our response to the two parts of your Freedom of Information
request.
1. All course materials provided to students; if not all can be provided then all
parts that are not restricted;
We confirm that we hold the training materials for the Stepping Up programme, but
we are not providing the information on the following grounds:
FOI Act Section 43(2) - Commercial Interest
Under the FOI Act, Section 43(2) for commercial interest allows public authorities to
refuse a request for information if it is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of
any person. (A person maybe an individual, a company, the public authority itself or
any other legal entity)
We consider that disclosing the training materials would be likely to harm the
commercial interests of the programme’s architect. We have consulted with them
and they have confirmed that releasing the information would adversely impact their
ability to commercially market Stepping Up in other cities in the UK. Furthermore, the
programme sells training places to other organisations and local authorities in the
area in order to fund the programme. Placing the training material in the public
domain would affect the programme’s commercial interests and its ability to run an
effective programme.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test which means that consideration
must be given to whether the public interest favouring disclosure is greater than the
public interest in maintaining the exemption. We have weighed up the benefits to the
public of releasing the information against the factors for not releasing it. On balance
we consider that disclosure would discourage training providers from working with
the council in future amid concerns that information will be disclosed despite their
wishes, which is likely to result in lower quality training programmes and negatively
affect value for money for citizens. We therefore consider that the public interest in
maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
2. Emails to/from Deputy Mayor Asher Craig and Mayor Marvin Rees relating to
the Stepping Up between 01/01/2019 – 01/07/2019. Where an email has been
identified please disclose the full thread for context. Please also search draft
and (where possible) deleted email folders.
Having reviewed your request, the time required to collate the information requested
will exceed the 18-hour threshold, as our search has identified over 560 email
threads about ‘Stepping Up’, so we are refusing it on the basis of Section 12 of the
Freedom of Information Act. Please consider refining your request to a narrower time
period or more specific search terms.