Disclosure Team
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
A Thompson
xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
31st October 2017
Dear A Thompson,
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request – 171004006
Thank you for your request dated 4 August in which you asked for information relating to the
Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) payroll.
Under the FOI act, please provide a response to my request
1. Does the Government Department run a temporary payroll? If so, please provide
the following information for each frequency of payroll applicable to the department.
*If it is not possible to split temporary payroll information from substantive, please
report your substantive and temporary payroll data in the table below.
a. Frequency of payroll (weekly, monthly, other - please specify)
b. How is the payroll managed? (in-house/outsourced)
c. Average no. of workers processed through the payroll 2016/17
d. Average no. of PAYE & PSC workers in 2016/17
e. Total no. of payslips processed in 2016/17
f. Annual payroll service cost to the departments 2016/17
2. If the government department has outsourced the provision of the temporary
payroll, please provide the following information:
a. Name of third party
b. Description of services offered
c. Contract start date
d. Contract end date
e. Annual cost to the department for 2016/17
f. Was this service procured through a framework? If so, please state which
framework
Your request has been handled under the FOIA.
I can confirm that the MoJ holds all the information that you have requested and I am able to
provide you with some of this. For ease, I have responded in chronological order.
Question one part A
The MoJ payroll is run monthly.
Part B
The payroll is outsourced to Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL).
Part C The average number of workers processed through the payroll is 74,911 per month.
Part D The average number of PAYE & PSC workers processed is 74,000 per month.
Part E The total number of payslips processed between April 16 – March 17 was 608,015.
Question two part A As mentioned in 1b, Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL) provides payroll services to the
Department.
Part B SSCL manages MoJ’s payroll.
Part C and D This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the FOIA because it is
reasonably accessible to you. Information on the start date of our contract with SSCL is
available at:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c97de34e-0a66-4135-b701-352d5a716fc0
Part F MoJ uses the system under a framework agreement with several other Government
Departments, this framework is the Independent Shared Services Centre 2 (ISSC 2) which
forms part of the Government’s Next Generation Shared Services Strategic Plan.
Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption which means that the decision to disclose information
relating to question 1f and 2e is subject to the public interest test. When assessing whether it
was in the public interest to disclose the information to you, we considered the following
factors:
Question one part F and Question two part E This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 43(2) of the FOIA because we
believe that to release the information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests
of our suppliers.
Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption which means that the decision to disclose the
requested material is subject to the public interest test. When assessing whether or not it
was in the public interest to disclose the information to you, we took into account the
following factors:
Public interest considerations favouring disclosure
• There is a public interest in the disclosure of this information to ensure that there is
transparency in, and accountability for, the management of public funds AND that public
money is being used effectively and the Department is providing maximum value for
taxpayer money.
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Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information
• Should the information requested be released, there is a risk that in future competitions
this information could be exploited by competitors to formulate a commercial strategy
partially based on knowledge of price paid. For example, if organisations could see the
amounts paid this could prejudice their commercial strategy in future negotiations, which
would disadvantage bidders and compromise the public sector’s ability to obtain best value
for money.
We reached the view that, on balance, the public interest is better served by withholding
information in relation to questions 1F and 2E under Section 43 (1) FOIA now for the above
reasons.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to request an internal review by
responding in writing to one of the addresses below within two months of the date of this
response.
xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx
Data Access and Compliance Unit, Ministry of Justice, 10.38, 102 Petty France, London,
SW1H 9AJ
You do have the right to ask the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to investigate any
aspect of your complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal
complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning their investigation.
Yours sincerely
MoJ HR Correspondence
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