Ref: Corporate Cleaning Services.

Roedd y cais yn rhannol lwyddiannus.

Dear FOI Team,

I would be most grateful if you would provide me, under the Freedom of Information Act, details in respect to the contract below.

Corporate Cleaning Services.

The details we require are:

• Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages*
• Contract values of each framework/contract (& any sub lots), year to date
• Start date & duration of framework
• Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension?
• Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?
• Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract?

For clarity, the details of the successful and unsuccessful suppliers are kept in the strictest confidence. These details are used only to contact and support suppliers regarding their bidding activity for the relevant contracts.

Yours sincerely,

COL-EB-InformationOfficer, City of London Corporation

1 Atodiad

Dear Owen Smith

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 (FOIA) – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

 

The City of London (CoL) acknowledges receipt of your request for
information of 29 April 2019,as attached.

 

Public authorities are required to respond to requests within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days beginning from the first working
day after they receive a request. The Act does not always require public
authorities to disclose the information which they hold.

 

The FOIA applies to the CoL as a local authority, police authority and
port health authority. The CoL is the local and police authority for the
“Square Mile”, ie the historic City of London, and not for London as a
whole. Please see the following page containing a link to a map (‘Explore
the City’), which shows the local authority area covered by the CoL:

[1]https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/maps/Pag....

 

The CoL does have some functions, including Port Health Authority
functions, which extend beyond the City boundary. For further information
please see: [2]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Officer

Comptroller & City Solicitor’s Department

City of London

Tel: 020-7332 1243

[3]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

 

THIS E-MAIL AND ANY ATTACHED FILES ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND MAY BE LEGALLY
PRIVILEGED. If you are not the addressee, any disclosure, reproduction,
copying, distribution or other dissemination or use of this communication
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error
please notify the sender immediately and then delete this e-mail.
Opinions, advice or facts included in this message are given without any
warranties or intention to enter into a contractual relationship with the
City of London unless specifically indicated otherwise by agreement,
letter or facsimile signed by a City of London authorised signatory. Any
part of this e-mail which is purely personal in nature is not authorised
by the City of London. All e-mail through the City of London's gateway is
potentially the subject of monitoring. All liability for errors and
viruses is excluded. Please note that in so far as the City of London
falls within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004, it may need to disclose this
e-mail. Website: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/maps/Pag...
2. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/
3. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/

CityProc – Policy & Compliance, City of London Corporation

Dear Mr Smith,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 (FOIA) - INFORMATION REQUEST

 

Following your request for information of 29 April 2019 and our
acknowledgement of the same date, the City of London (CoL) responds as
follows:

 

Re: Corporate Cleaning Services

 

o Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and
were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages

 

The name of the successful supplier for the CoL’s Corporate Cleaning
Services contract is Servest.

 

In terms of the names of unsuccessful suppliers who applied for the
Corporate Cleaning Services contract the CoL applies the following
exemptions below. As a result, our response acts as a partial refusal
notice.

 

 1. FOIA section 41 -  Information provided in confidence

 

The CoL considers that this exemption is engaged with regard to the names
of unsuccessful suppliers involved in a tender process, as information
which is commercially sensitive.

 

Bidders enter such processes in confidence, and as such would expect their
information, including their identity, to remain held in confidence unless
they were to become the successful bidders.

 

Given the sensitivity of the information, it is, of course, not already in
the public domain and the CoL considers that disclosure would result in an
actionable breach of confidence, because the information could provide any
competitor with the actual or, at worst the implied circumstances of an
unsuccessful bidder.

 

We consider that the information has the necessary quality of confidence
required to be subject to this exemption.

 

Please note, too, that a public authority has to consider a disclosure
under the FOIA as a disclosure to the world. We note the Information
Tribunal’s statement that “Disclosure under [the] FOIA is effectively an
unlimited disclosure to the public as a whole, without conditions”
(Information Tribunal Appeal Decision EA/2006/0011 & 0013).

 

The exemption at section 41(1) of the FOIA is an absolute exemption and is
not subject to a public interest test. However, should the public interest
be considered in any court action, we consider that it would firmly weigh
against disclosure, for the same reasons as outlined in our explanation of
the application of the section 43(2) exemption, below.

 

 2. FOIA section 43(2) - Prejudice to the commercial interests of any
person (including the public authority)

 

The CoL considers that disclosure of the names unsuccessful bidders in
tender processes would prejudice both the commercial interests of the
third parties and the CoL, therefore engaging the exemption at section
43(2) of the FOIA.

 

The specific harm which would occur is to the competitive position of the
third parties, through any possible implied reflection of their
unsuccessful status resulting in harm or damage to their reputation or
weakening of their position in a particular field, especially where such
harm or damage is caused by assumption rather than fact; and to the
financial position of the CoL through the harm this would do to the CoL's
ability to attract tenders from market leaders in the private sector, and
the confidence of third parties in doing business with us without the
concern that such information would be made public regardless of whether
they are successful or unsuccessful.

 

The section 43(2) exemption is subject to the public interest test.  The
public interest arguments in favour of disclosure of such information have
been clarified in published guidance. They would be:

 

(i) The desirability of furthering the understanding of, and participation
in, public debate on procurement.

(ii) Facilitating accountability and transparency of public authorities
for their procurement decisions.

(iii) Facilitating accountability and transparency in the spending of
public money.

 

Nevertheless, in the view of the CoL the application of the public
interest test in relation to the section 43(2) exemption weighs against
disclosure in this instance.

 

As stated above, a public authority has to consider a disclosure under the
FOIA as a disclosure to the world. We note the Information Tribunal’s
statement that “Disclosure under [the] FOIA is effectively an unlimited
disclosure to the public as a whole, without conditions” (Information
Tribunal Appeal Decision EA/2006/0011 & 0013).

 

The CoL considers that any public interest in the disclosure of this
information would be limited to a local interest only, and that there is
no regional, national or world-wide public interest in the disclosure of
unsuccessful bidders in tender processes, especially where the tender
itself is localised, and that should this information be placed in the
public domain, by virtue of the FOIA, there is a real and significant risk
of harm to the commercial position of the contractor and the CoL, which is
not outweighed by any public interest arguments in favour in disclosure.

 

o Contract values of each framework/contract (& any sub lots), year to
date

 

The contract value is £17,140,583.49.

 

o Start date & duration of framework

 

The contract started on 1 November 2015 and ends on 31 October 2019.

 

o Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if
so, the duration of the extension?

 

Yes, the contract has provision to extend for a further three years.

 

o Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s)
are being either extended or renewed?

 

Yes, the contract is in the process of being extended until 31.10.2022.

 

o Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for
this contract?

 

The contract is managed by the Property Contracts Performance Manager
based in the City Surveyors Department.

 

We hope this response is of some assistance.

 

If you wish to make a complaint about the way the CoL has managed your
enquiry, please make your complaint in writing to email address:
[1][email address]. For a link to the CoL’s FOI complaints
procedure, please visit the following page:
[2]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Feedback, at the end of which is located the
FOI complaints procedure. If, having used the CoL’s FOI Complaints
Procedure, you are still dissatisfied, you may request the Information
Commissioner to investigate. Please contact: Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone:
(01625) 545700.  Website: [3]http://www.ico.org.uk/.

 

The FOIA applies to the CoL as a local authority, police authority and
port health authority. Subject to any other statutory provisions requiring
the City of London to disclose information, release of information outside
the scope of the Act is subject to the discretion of the CoL.

 

The CoL holds the copyright in this communication. Its supply does not
give a right to re-use in a way that would infringe that copyright, for
example, by making copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public or
to any other person. Brief extracts of any of the material may be
reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research for
non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and news
reporting, subject to an acknowledgement of the copyright owner.”

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Access to Information Network Representative

City Procurement

Chamberlain’s Department

City of London

Email: [4][email address]

 

 

 

 

 

THIS E-MAIL AND ANY ATTACHED FILES ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND MAY BE LEGALLY
PRIVILEGED. If you are not the addressee, any disclosure, reproduction,
copying, distribution or other dissemination or use of this communication
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error
please notify the sender immediately and then delete this e-mail.
Opinions, advice or facts included in this message are given without any
warranties or intention to enter into a contractual relationship with the
City of London unless specifically indicated otherwise by agreement,
letter or facsimile signed by a City of London authorised signatory. Any
part of this e-mail which is purely personal in nature is not authorised
by the City of London. All e-mail through the City of London's gateway is
potentially the subject of monitoring. All liability for errors and
viruses is excluded. Please note that in so far as the City of London
falls within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004, it may need to disclose this
e-mail. Website: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Feedback
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
4. mailto:[email address]