Freedom of Information Request 203-17
Request
This request for information is an attempt to seek reassurance about the safety of
public buildings in the light of the findings revealed in the Inquiry commissioned
following the collapse of a school building wall in Edinburgh and subsequent closure
of 17 schools.
1) Please provide all documents showing how your organisation has responded
to the findings contained in the report on Edinburgh Schools Construction by
John Cole: including, but not limited to memos, emails, minutes, reports.
2) I would like to understand the expertise and resource committed by your
organisation to the management and oversight of PFI schemes from
procurement through to ongoing contract operation. Please provide
documents relating to the PFI Team(s) allocated to each project its makeup
and structure of the team during each project phase. This may comprise
terms of reference, organisation chart, post titles and role profiles. Provide the
deed of appointment for the Independent Certifier and any other documents
setting out the scope of that role. Please confirm the level of indemnity
insurance and liability period.
3) Please confirm whether your organisation employed a member of the Institute
of Clerk of Works or an inspector of similar standing and assigned them to
each construction site. If someone in this role was employed please confirm
their level of qualification, the salary associated with this role and how much
time was allocated to per project/site.
4) Please provide a list of all enforcement or improvement notices served;
investigations carried out and reports commissioned into fire safety (include
dates and specify who commissioned or issued these) Please provide copies
of all items listed.
5) Provide details of all attempts to make deductions relating to structural defects
for each project. Confirm the amount, what it was for, and when the deduction
was made.
Response
Your request for information has now been considered. Rotherham Metropolitan
Borough Council cannot supply all the information you have requested for the
reasons set out below.
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public
authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or
deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at
Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act
2000 requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which:
(a) states the fact,
(b) specifies the exemption in question and
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies
In relation to this particular request, the following exemption applies:
Section 12 – where the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit
We have three PFI projects:
PFI Schools was agreed between 2001 and 2003.
PFI Leisure was agreed between 2004 and 2007
PFI Waste management was agreed between 2006 and 2012
We have one PPP project:
Bereavement Services PPP was agreed between 2006 and 2008
We consider that to fully answer the FOI will take more than 18 hours of staff time to
‘locate and retrieve’ the information. (4.5 hours per project)
These projects were negotiated in excess of 10 years ago; to obtain the information
will require requests to archive’s and because of the length of time since negotiating
these projects, there is no assurance that the information will have been retained or
be available. On the Schools PFI the organisation that constructed the schools has
long since ceased to exist and request for information could take several months to
obtain if it were still available.
We believe to do a single response for a particular PFI/PPP would take in excess of
the 18 hours, for all four it would be in excess of 72 hours.
A preliminary assessment has been made and it is estimated that to provide the
information requested would exceed the maximum cost as detailed in the Freedom
of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.