Previous bids

The request was successful.

Dear University of Essex,

Under the freedom of information act I am requesting a copy of a successful bid for Lots 1-8 for the T532 Consultants Framework (2015-2018) contract.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Price

Freedom Of Information Requests, University of Essex

Dear Mrs Price

Thank you email enquiry dated 8th February and received by us on the same date concerning previous bids for Lots 1-8 for the T532 Consultants Framework contract. Your request is being handled under freedom of information requirements and will be answered within 20 working days.

In the meantime if you have any questions, please let me know.

Best wishes
Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi
Freedom of Information Team
IT Services
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
Essex
CO4 3SQ
 
T +44 (0)1206 872285
E [University of Essex request email]

show quoted sections

Freedom Of Information Requests, University of Essex

Dear Mrs Price

 

Following your recent enquiry regarding previous bids for Lots 1-8 for the
T532 Consultants Framework, I have now been in contact with colleagues in
Procurement for this information.  They have come back to me saying that
in your request you ask for ‘a copy of a successful bid for Lots 1-8 for
the T532 Consultants Framework.’ However, my colleagues have pointed out
to me that there were many successful bids rather than a bid.  

 

So that we provide you with the information that you require, please could
you come back to me to clarify exactly what you are looking for.

 

Best wishes

Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi

Freedom of Information Team

IT Services

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park

Colchester

Essex

CO4 3SQ

 

T +44 (0)1206 872285

E [1][University of Essex request email]

 

 

References

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1. mailto:[University of Essex request email]

Dear Freedom Of Information Requests,

Please can you supply me with the highest scoring bid from each lot, 8 documents in total.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Price

Freedom Of Information Requests, University of Essex

Dear Mrs Price

Thank you for the clarification which I have now passed onto my colleagues. We will collate the information for you and will come back to you as soon as we can.

Best wishes
Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi
Freedom of Information Team
IT Services
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
Essex
CO4 3SQ
 
T +44 (0)1206 872285
E [University of Essex request email]

show quoted sections

Freedom Of Information Requests, University of Essex

Dear Mrs Price

 

Following your recent enquiry, I am writing to let you know that
unfortunately there will be a delay in sending our response to you.  We
are currently in the processing preparing the documents and will come back
to you by the end of next week with an update.

 

Please accept our apologies for this delay and any inconvenience it may
cause you.

 

Best wishes

Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi

Freedom of Information Team

IT Services

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park

Colchester

Essex

CO4 3SQ

 

T +44 (0)1206 872285

E [1][University of Essex request email]

 

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[University of Essex request email]

Freedom Of Information Requests, University of Essex

Dear Mrs Price

 

Following my earlier message below, I am sorry to advise you that there
will be a further delay in getting our response to you.  We will come back
to you by the end of this week with an update.

 

Please accept our apologies for this ongoing delay and any inconvenience
it may cause you.

 

Best wishes

Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi

Freedom of Information Team

Innovation & Technology Solutions

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park

Colchester

Essex

CO4 3SQ

 

T +44 (0)1206 872285

E [1][University of Essex request email]

 

From: Freedom Of Information Requests
Sent: 14 March 2019 13:02
To: 'Sara Skelley' <[FOI #551120 email]>
Subject: Your Freedom of Information Request - Delay

 

Dear Mrs Price

 

Following your recent enquiry, I am writing to let you know that
unfortunately there will be a delay in sending our response to you.  We
are currently in the processing preparing the documents and will come back
to you by the end of next week with an update.

 

Please accept our apologies for this delay and any inconvenience it may
cause you.

 

Best wishes

Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi

Freedom of Information Team

IT Services

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park

Colchester

Essex

CO4 3SQ

 

T +44 (0)1206 872285

E [2][University of Essex request email]

 

 

References

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1. mailto:[University of Essex request email]
2. mailto:[University of Essex request email]

Dear Freedom Of Information Requests,

Can you please provide an update regarding the information I requested?

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Price

Freedom Of Information Requests, University of Essex

4 Attachments

Dear Mrs Price

 

Thank you for your enquiry dated 8^th February and received by us on the
same date requesting copies of successful bids for Lots 1-8 for T532
Consultants Framework Contract.  Your request is being handled under the
terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Please find attached as requested the first 4 PDF documents which are the
successful bids for Lots 1-8 for T532 Consultants Framework Contract.  Due
to the size of the files, we are sending them to you in two batches and
the second batch will follow shortly via email.

 

You will see that some of the information in these documents has been
redacted.  This relates to detailed financial information and personal
information which we consider to be information exempt under Section 43(2)
and Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

 

Section 43(2) of the Act states that:

 

(2)        Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this
Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of
any person (including the public authority holding it).

 

Section 43(2) is a class based qualified exemption which requires a public
interest test to be conducted to consider whether the public interest lies
in favour of disclosing the information or in maintaining the exemption. 
Please see below.

 

Section 43(2) of the FOIA provides a qualified exemption on the disclosure
of information where the information would be likely to prejudice the
commercial interests of any person.  The Information Commissioner’s
guidance indicates that commercial interests for the purposes of applying
Section 43(2) includes information held by public authorities in the
context of procuring goods and services.

 

Factors Favouring Disclosure

The public have an interest in knowing how public funds are spent in
respect of the procurement/provision of services.  This would demonstrate
an openness and transparency and would give the public the opportunity to
judge whether the University was using public funds appropriately and
would allow them to debate any issues.

 

Factors Favouring Non-Disclosure

Companies, in this case the bidders, compete in the market by offering
something different from their rivals.  The difference will often be
reflected in their price and may also relate to the quality or
specification of the product or service they offer.  Disclosure of the
requested information would allow other companies to use this knowledge to
undercut rivals which could then impact on the future quality and service
the University receives.

 

Information identifying this unique element is commercially sensitive as
it may reveal information regarding forward spending plans which would be
likely to prejudice future contract negotiations with suppliers.

 

Balance Test

Giving due consideration to all of the points above, whilst we appreciate
that the public have a right to know how public monies are spent, there is
potential harm to all of the bidders concerned and to the University
itself.  Therefore, on balance we feel that non-disclosure of the
information outweighs disclosure and it is therefore in the public
interest to withhold this information under Section 43(2) of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.

 

Section 40 of the Act states that:

 

(2)        Any information to which a request for information relates is
also exempt information if-

 

(a)   It constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1)
and

(b)   Either the first or the second condition below is satisfied.

 

(3A)      The first condition is that the disclosure of the information to
a member of the public otherwise than under this Act –

 

(a)   Would contravene any of the data protection principles, or

(b)   Would do so if the exemptions in section 24(1) of the Data
Protection Act 2018 (manual unstructured data held by public authorities)
were disregarded.

 

3B)       The second condition is that the disclosure of the information
to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene
Article 21 of the GDPR (general processing: right to object to
processing).

 

In this case we believe that disclosure of the information would result in
a breach of the first data protection principle, as stated in the Data
Protection Act 2018 (the DPA):

 

            Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in
particular, shall not be processed unless-

 

(a)   At least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and

(b)   In the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the
conditions in Schedule 3 is also met”

 

The information in question is personal data, therefore, for the
processing to be fair and lawful it must meet at least one of the
conditions in Schedule 2 and one of the conditions in Schedule 3 of the
DPA.  In this case we do not believe that any of the Schedule 3 conditions
are applicable to the processing (ie the disclosure) of the personal data
in question, which leads us to conclude that it would be unlawful to
disclose the information requested.

 

This exemption is not subject to the public interest test.  Further
guidance can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at
[1]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici....

 

I am sorry that we are unable to provide you with the information that you
requested.  You have a right to ask us to review this decision within 40
working days of receipt of this response and you can do that by contacting
our Registrar & Secretary, Bryn Morris, through [2][email address].
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of a review then you have a
further right of complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner
at:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone:        08456 30 60 60

Or                     01625 54 57 45

 

Website:           [3]www.ico.org.uk

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in sending our response to you.

 

Best wishes

Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi

Freedom of Information Team

IT Services

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park

Colchester

Essex

CO4 3SQ

 

T +44 (0)1206 872285

E [4][University of Essex request email]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

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1. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
4. mailto:[University of Essex request email]

Freedom Of Information Requests, University of Essex

4 Attachments

Dear Mrs Price

 

As per my earlier email, please find attached the second batch of 4 PDF
documents as promised.  This now completes our response to you.

 

Best wishes

Clare Chatfield, BA (Hons), PC.foi

Freedom of Information Team

Innovation & Technology Solutions

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park

Colchester

Essex

CO4 3SQ

 

T +44 (0)1206 872285

E [1][University of Essex request email]

 

 

References

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1. mailto:[University of Essex request email]