Costings & plans of FTTC cabinet #6 in Ammanford

The request was refused by Welsh Government.

Dear Welsh Government,

I'm looking for information you hold regarding the FTTC cabinet #6 at the Ammanford exchange. This cabinet is located at Margaret Steet, Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, SA18 2NP and was commissioned in July 2015 as part of the Superfast Cymru programme.

Please you provide details of the plans that you hold for the siting of this cabinet, including all correspondence with local and town councils.

Additionally please detail how much this development cost and identify which budget(s) the funds were allocated from (the cabinet's signage states that this was funded by Welsh Government as well as the European Regional Development Fund). If external partners contributed (labour, services in kind etc) then please identify the value of those fees too.

Yours faithfully,

D Morris

Welsh Government

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Morris,
 
Please find attached a letter regarding your recent request for
information.  Please direct any replies to
[1][email address].
 
Cofion/Regards,
 
Uned Busnes y Llywodraeth / Government Business Unit
Adran yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth/Department for Economy and Transport
Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government
QED Centre, Treforest, RCT, CF37 5YR
 
 
Wrth adael Llywodraeth Cymru sganiwyd y neges yma am bob feirws. Mae’n
bosibl y bydd gohebiaeth gyda Llywodraeth Cymru yn cael ei logio, ei
monitro ac/neu ei chofnodi yn awtomatig am resymau cyfreithiol. Rydym yn
croesawu derbyn gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn ateb gohebiaeth a
dderbynnir yn Gymraeg yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at
oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this email was scanned for all known
viruses. Communications with Welsh Government may be automatically logged,
monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. We welcome receiving
correspondence in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be
answered in Welsh and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in
responding.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Welsh Government,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Welsh Government's handling of my FOI request 'Costings & plans of FTTC cabinet #6 in Ammanford'.

I note that you did not reply promptly and then sought to consider a public interest test under Section 43 (commercial interest) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for a portion of the request. Ignoring the perverse consideration of a commercial interest to the single tenderer for the Superfast Cymru funds (whose value has been repeated on many occasions in public), any such consideration would only apply to part of the request that I made. The ICO's guidance in this regard is clear "You should release any information that is not covered by an exemption within the standard time." You can find the guidance here:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...

Please can you disclose the information not subject to a public interest test straight away?

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

Yours faithfully,

D Morris

Welsh Government

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Morris,
 
Please find attached a response to your request for information and
subsequent complaint.  Please direct any replies to
[1]FOI.EconomyandTransport@gov.wales.
 
Cofion/Regards,
 
Uned Busnes y Llywodraeth / Government Business Unit
Adran yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth/Department for Economy and Transport
Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government
QED Centre, Treforest, RCT, CF37 5YR
 
 
Wrth adael Llywodraeth Cymru sganiwyd y neges yma am bob feirws. Mae’n
bosibl y bydd gohebiaeth gyda Llywodraeth Cymru yn cael ei logio, ei
monitro ac/neu ei chofnodi yn awtomatig am resymau cyfreithiol. Rydym yn
croesawu derbyn gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn ateb gohebiaeth a
dderbynnir yn Gymraeg yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at
oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this email was scanned for all known
viruses. Communications with Welsh Government may be automatically logged,
monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. We welcome receiving
correspondence in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be
answered in Welsh and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in
responding.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:FOI.EconomyandTransport@gov.wales

Dear Welsh Government,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Welsh Government's handling of my FOI request 'Costings & plans of FTTC cabinet #6 in Ammanford'.

I was disappointed to have my request for information declined recently and disagree with the application of the Section 43 exemption (commercial interest) that the Welsh Government has applied to prevent information being disclosed. In the context of the commercial contract that has directed the spending of around £450 million, first negotiated in 2011/12, the application of this exemption doesn't stand-up to independent scrutiny for a number of reasons:

1) Releasing information relating to one single/specific/identified cabinet is extremely unlikely to damage BT's competitive standing. There will be so many site-specific variables that the costs disclosed would give minimal insight into BT's operating practices, cost base or profit margins. A competitor would be extremely unwise to extrapolate this cost over a wider deployment, a competitor would have to replicate site surveys and then second-guess if BT has treated this site as a loss-leader or technological beachhead.

2) Any contract of this scale will have amortised many costs over the whole programme, and I haven't requested that Welsh Government reveal how those have been calculated. For example the one-time/startup costs of purchasing equipment and training staff. Revealing the amount of public funds spent on this one cabinet will not expose those costings. I am hesitant to divide £450M by the reported 3,000 FTTC cabinets to reach a crass £150K estimate for the enablement of this cabinet.

3) The world has moved on since the contract was signed in 2012. By means of a practical example (and carefully picking my way over NDA's that I am subject to), I spent several weeks consulting in eastern and central China with the BT's primary supplier of DSLAM equipment a few years ago, at the behest of the key semiconductor manufacturer (our software is used extensively in these and similar platforms). The DSLAM development and production costs have changed dramatically in the last six years, Moore's law has continued to deliver with newer processes counter-balanced against ever growing device complexity. From a business perspective international currency markets have shifted significantly, legislative and tariff frameworks have changed, the owners of IP blocks licensed in the chips have changed, patents have expired and even the semiconductor vendor at the backbone of those DSLAM circuits has been acquired - giving it access to increased processes, greater yields, opportunities for cost optimisation, efficiency of scale, conflicting geo-political pressures etc. Thinking more locally, the basic cost of fuel and labour have changed, we've been through a heavy/rare earth metals speculative cycle, the onus/cost of regulatory compliance (eg RoHS & successor directives) has increased and even the unforeseen Insurance Premium Tax has been slapped on by the UK government. To assert that revealing the historical cost of one cabinet, with so many variables and intangibles, would prejudice BT's future business is laughable.

4) In respect of the ongoing debate regarding EU funding (scraps returned from a banquet given?), the Welsh Government should be transparent in showing what portion of the costs came from the European Regional Development Fund. Hopefully it is more than the printing cost for the advertising sticker that embellishes this cabinet, itself located in a prime location.

The ICO's Commercial Interests(section 43) FOI guidance document also stipulates:

"33. Furthermore, it is not sufficient for a public authority to simply argue that disclosing details of a contract would prejudice the commercial position of an organisation, should that contract come up for retendering. It must also demonstrate that the contract is likely to be retendered."

You may find the ICO's document here:
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Given the scope and scale of the 2012 Superfast Cymru contract, advancing the whole of Wales with the one-time enablement of infrastructure and provision of superfast connectivity to businesses and homes across the nation; it is not possible for BT (or another) to retender for the same work package. The Welsh Government ought to focus on ensuring service delivery and value for money, rather than "protecting" BT's commercial interests if it has other single-bidder/last-man-standing opportunities in its pipeline for other nations.

I also note the duties of confidentiality that bind BT in the contract. One could easily argue that the Welsh Government is directly harming BT's commercial reputation by handling simple FOI requests in such an obstructive and evasive manner, potentially jeopardising BT's pipeline of imagined future projects. This should have been considered whilst applying the commercial interest exemption.

Looking at the Welsh Government's boiler-plate response to deny my request led me to the Information Commissioner's Decision Notice FS50505435, and unearthed a redacted version of the very readable Superfast Cymru contract (I wish ours were that simple). It is clear (from this and other Decision Notices) that the ICO hasn't been particularly impressed with the Welsh Government's efforts to suppress public accountability.

The ICO's guidance on subcontracting makes it very plain that a data controller remains responsible for information held on its behalf. You may wish to review the following document, paying particular attention to sections 17-19 and the casework examples:

https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Perhaps if the Welsh Government had heeded the proactive direction from paragraph 33 ("should include not only the contract itself but also information about the supplier’s performance against KPIs.") then we'd have less bleating from Welsh Government Ministers in the press reporting their frustration with information given by BT[1], greater accountability through the exercise of section 5.5 (and its sub-clauses) of the contract, and more effective delivery?

The Welsh Government has stated that British Telecommunications holds the information I requested about the siting of this cabinet (including all correspondence with local and town councils). The ICO instructs (paragraph 18) "We recommend that public authorities should refer to the contract if they need to resolve an issue as to what information is held on their behalf". Morgan Cole cover the right of access in section 31 of the contract (in particular note the "five (5) Working Days" timeframe stipulated in 31.1.1 which jars with the Welsh Government's fulfilment time for requests), with classes of records, rights to audit and maintenance obligations in other sections. Therefore the Welsh Government should have provided me with the information I requested when I first asked for it, and well within the statutory time period.

Finally, whilst I can hardly believe that I'm using Carmarthenshire County Council as an exemplar for transparency, they have at least disclosed the headline amount of public money (£109K) they are giving to BT to scrap and redo work already delivered by the Superfast Cymru programme (shifting Ammanford FTTC cabinet #6 a few metres). Overlooking the Welsh Government's duties to track procured assets (and ERDF reporting), there's over a quarter of a million pounds of public money (using that crass estimate from above) at risk with seemingly no coordination between four tiers of government, the European Union and a commercial contractor being paid double-bubble. Releasing the siting information held on behalf the Welsh Government is clearly in the public's interest and within your control.

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

Yours faithfully,

D Morris

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38773...

Welsh Government

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    ATISN 11648 D Morris FTTC Cabinet 6 internal review acknowledgem....pdf

    218K Download View as HTML

Gweler ynghlwm llythyr ynghylch eich cwyn diweddar.  Cyfeiriwch unrhyw
atebion at: [1]RhyddidGwyb.EconomiaThrafnidiaeth@llyw.cymru.
 
Please find attached correspondence regarding your recent complaint. 
Please direct any replies to [2]FOI.EconomyandTransport@gov.wales.
 
Cofion/Regards,
 
Uned Busnes y Llywodraeth / Government Business Unit
Adran yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth / Department for Economy and Transport
Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government
QED Centre, Treforest, RCT, CF37 5YR
 
 
 
 
 
Wrth adael Llywodraeth Cymru sganiwyd y neges yma am bob feirws. Mae’n
bosibl y bydd gohebiaeth gyda Llywodraeth Cymru yn cael ei logio, ei
monitro ac/neu ei chofnodi yn awtomatig am resymau cyfreithiol. Rydym yn
croesawu derbyn gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn ateb gohebiaeth a
dderbynnir yn Gymraeg yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at
oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this email was scanned for all known
viruses. Communications with Welsh Government may be automatically logged,
monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. We welcome receiving
correspondence in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be
answered in Welsh and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in
responding.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:RhyddidGwyb.EconomiaThrafnidiaeth@llyw.cymru
2. mailto:FOI.EconomyandTransport@gov.wales

Welsh Government

1 Attachment

Gweler ynghlwm llythyr ynghylch eich cwyn diweddar.  Cyfeiriwch unrhyw
atebion at: [1]RhyddidGwyb.EconomiaThrafnidiaeth@llyw.cymru.
 
Please find attached correspondence regarding your recent complaint. 
Please direct any replies to [2]FOI.EconomyandTransport@gov.wales.
 
 
Cofion/Regards,
 
Uned Busnes y Llywodraeth / Government Business Unit
Adran yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth / Department for Economy and Transport
Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government
QED Centre, Treforest, RCT, CF37 5YR
 
 
 
 
 
Wrth adael Llywodraeth Cymru sganiwyd y neges yma am bob feirws. Mae’n
bosibl y bydd gohebiaeth gyda Llywodraeth Cymru yn cael ei logio, ei
monitro ac/neu ei chofnodi yn awtomatig am resymau cyfreithiol. Rydym yn
croesawu derbyn gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn ateb gohebiaeth a
dderbynnir yn Gymraeg yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at
oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this email was scanned for all known
viruses. Communications with Welsh Government may be automatically logged,
monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. We welcome receiving
correspondence in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be
answered in Welsh and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in
responding.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:RhyddidGwyb.EconomiaThrafnidiaeth@llyw.cymru
2. mailto:FOI.EconomyandTransport@gov.wales

Daniel Morris left an annotation ()

And they have wrong email address for complaints to the ICO in their boiler-plate!

Daniel Morris left an annotation ()

2018-04-23 complaint to ICO
2018-07-11 assigned to an investigating officer