Agency Agreement

The request was partially successful.

Anastasia Aldridge

Dear Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council,

1) What is the value of spend on temporary staff from recruitment agencies by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in 2015 - 2016?
Please ensure a gross spend value is detailed and include all spend associated to any contract let for the management/provision of temporary staff by a contracted provider (whether Vendor neutral or Master vendor)

2) If you have a Framework in place for the provision of temporary staff, please tell me:
a. The titles and content of the relevant frameworks
b. Who is on the current frameworks
c. The start and end dates of the frameworks
d. Any possible extension periods to the frameworks
e. The name and contact email of person responsible for the
frameworks.
f. The current performance of suppliers that are on the framework against their agreed KPIs.

3) Please can you attach a copy of the framework agreement of the supply of agency/temporary staff between Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and the parties/organisations it was let to.

4) If you have a managed service provider (MSP) in place for the provision of temporary agency staff, please provide the following;
a. How was the contract to manage/provide the supply of
agency/temporary staff let?
b. Who was the contract to manage/provide the supply of
agency/temporary staff let to?
c. When was the contract to manage/provide the supply of
temporary/agency staff to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council let?
d. When did the contract to manage / provide the supply of temporary / agency staff commence, how long does it run for and what is the end date?

5) If you have an MSP in place, Please can you attach a copy of the contract for the management/provision of the supply of agency/temporary staff between Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and the party/organisation the contract was let to

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia Aldridge

Corporate Information Unit, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

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Dear Anastasia Aldridge

I acknowledge with thanks your request for information held by Bolton
Council received at this office on .

This request has been considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
and may take up to 20 working days to be processed (although we will
endeavour to provide the information as quickly as possible).

Please be advised that if an exemption applies to the information that you
have requested, the statutory period may be exceeded in accordance with
the provisions of the act.

If a charge is applicable to your request, we will advise you of this in
due course.

Please retain the reference number RFI 8610 for any future enquiries
regarding this matter.

Many Thanks

Freedom of Information Team

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of Bolton Council. http://www.bolton.gov.uk

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Anastasia Aldridge

 

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

In response to your request for information received at this office on
19^th December 2016, please see the councils response below.

 

You requested:

 

1) What is the value of spend on temporary staff from recruitment agencies
by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in 2015 - 2016?

Please ensure a gross spend value is detailed and include all spend
associated to any contract let for the management/provision of temporary
staff by a contracted provider (whether Vendor neutral or Master vendor)

Answer: £6,038,757.45

 

2) If you have a Framework in place for the provision of temporary staff,
please tell me:

a. The titles and content of the relevant frameworks b. Who is on the
current frameworks c. The start and end dates of the frameworks d. Any
possible extension periods to the frameworks e. The name and contact email
of person responsible for the frameworks.

f. The current performance of suppliers that are on the framework against
their agreed KPIs.

Answer: This information is not held as Bolton Council do not have a
framework for supply

 

3) Please can you attach a copy of the framework agreement of the supply
of agency/temporary staff between Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and
the parties/organisations it was let to.

Answer: n/a

 

4) If you have a managed service provider (MSP) in place for the provision
of temporary agency staff, please provide the following;

a. How was the contract to manage/provide the supply of agency/temporary
staff let?

Answer: Via ESPO

 

b. Who was the contract to manage/provide the supply of agency/temporary
staff let to?

Answer: Hays Recruitment

 

c. When was the contract to manage/provide the supply of temporary/agency
staff to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council let?

Answer: January 2012

 

d. When did the contract to manage / provide the supply of temporary /
agency staff commence, how long does it run for and what is the end date?

Answer: The contract ends at the end of January 2017 but a full tender
process has been undertaken with the other Greater Manchester councils to
procure a replacement supplier, Reed who commence on 28 January 2017.

 

5) If you have an MSP in place, Please can you attach a copy of the
contract for the management/provision of the supply of agency/temporary
staff between Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and the
party/organisation the contract was let to

Bolton Council has considered the above aspect of your request and feels
that the information requested is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”).  Section 17 of the Act provides that
when refusing a request, Bolton Council must provide a notice which (a)
states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question, and (c) states
(if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

 

In this case, we consider that the exemption under section 43 (2) of the
Act applies to the information requested above. Section 43(2) of the Act
states that information is exempt if its disclosure is likely to prejudice
the commercial interest of any person (including the public authority
holding it)

 

In making the decision to withhold information, and as per the ICO
guidance, the council has considered the prejudice test.

 

The withheld information clearly relates to a commercial activity
(provision of temporary agency staff). The activity is conducted in a
competitive environment, in which the council works to identify the best
bidder, gain best value for available funds and in which companies compete
to submit the best bid. Therefore the nature of the requested information
falls within the scope of the exemption under Section 43(2).

 

Release of information under the Act cannot be viewed in the context of a
limited disclosure to the applicant, it should be considered as an
applicant blind release into the public domain.

 

We believe that local businesses should be allowed to trade freely and
effectively without the possibility of unnecessary disclosure of their
information. The information requested relates to specific details of
pricing, financial information and operating methods, which were
negotiated in securing the best possible arrangement for both the
Authority and the Provider.

 

We believe that releasing commercial sensitive information would
discourage competition and therefore reduce the quality and effectiveness
of any future tender process.

 

In reaching this decision we have made our decision based on the public
interest test. Whilst we accept the need for transparency in how funds are
spent and the public’s interest in this we consider that this is
outweighed by the public interest in the council’s ability to secure
maximum value for these same funds through ensuring fair competition and
being able to operate an effective tender process.

 

In accordance with the Act, this email constitutes a Refusal Notice for
this part of your request.

 

 

Should you disagree with our decision, you may appeal to:

The Borough Solicitor, Bolton Council, 3^rd Floor, The Wellsprings, Howell
Croft South, Bolton, BL1 1US

Email:  [1][email address]

 

Should you further disagree with the decision following the appeal you may
wish to contact the Information Commissioner:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

[2]www.ico.gov.uk

Tel: 01625 545700, Fax: 01625 524510

 

Should you have any other queries regarding this please contact
[3][email address]

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Mark Allen

Corporate Information Officer

Corporate Information Unit

 

[4]www.bolton.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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