Cleaning Contract

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If you have submitted a Freedom of Information Request or Subject Access
Request, please accept this as acknowledgement of your request.   

All other enquiries will be responded to in due course. 

Yours sincerely 

Information Governance Unit  

University Secretary’s Office 

The Palatine Centre
Stockton Road
Durham
DH1 3LE 

w: [1]https://www.dur.ac.uk/university.secreta...

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Dear Requester

Thank you for your request for information from Durham University.
Colleagues have provided the information below/attached in response to
your questions.

Request:

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

[1]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

The details we require are:

What are the contractual performance KPI's for this contract?

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

Actual spend on this contract, from the start of the contract to the
current date

Start date & duration of contract?

Could you please provide a copy of the service specification given to all
bidders for when this contract was last advertised?

Is there an extension clause in the contract and, if so, the duration of
the extension?

Has a decision been made yet on whether the contract is being either
extended or renewed?

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

Response:

In accordance with Section 14 of the FOIA the University is not obliged to
comply with your request as it is considered vexatious.

Section 14 of the FOI Act provides that:   14. Vexatious or repeated
requests.   

1. Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a
request for information if the request is vexatious.    

2. Where a public authority has previously complied with a request for
information which was made by any person, it is not obliged to comply with
a subsequent identical or substantially similar request from that person
unless a reasonable interval has elapsed between compliance with the
previous request and the making of the current request.    

The FOI Act gives the public a right of access to information held by
public authorities. Please note that the University has considered its
obligation to transparency and openness when making this decision.   Under
Section 14 (1) of the FOI Act, public authorities like this University, do
not have to comply with vexatious requests. 

Section 14 (1) may be used in a variety of circumstances where a request
or its impact on the public authority, cannot be justified. The key
question to ask is whether this request is likely to cause a
disproportionate or unjustified level of disruption, irritation or
distress. This is a matter of objectivity when judging the evidence of the
impact on the University and weighing this against any evidence about the
purpose and value of the request. 

Public authorities such as this University do not have to comply with
vexatious requests. There is also no requirement to carry out a public
interest test (however, reference to public interests is made within the
following paragraphs/arguments, given where the request has originated) or
to confirm or deny whether the requested information is held.   

Without clear public interest the University considers this request to be
of a commercial nature and vexatious in line with the Upper Tribunal
ruling upheld by the Court of Appeal in the following case:
[2]http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/AAC/...

As indicated in paragraphs 35 and 38, the improper use of the FOI Act
(such as no public interest) is a valid consideration to make when
considering if a request or part of a request is vexatious. Using the FOI
Act, as in this case, to gain a commercial advantage or opportunity over
another can be included within this definition. Disclosure of information
pertaining to the scope of your request, can only be for commercial
reasons. It can be considered to be commercial information and thus
commercially sensitive. Disclosure of the requested information could lead
to other parties obtaining a commercial gain and be potentially
commercially disadvantageous to this organisation.  This University has
taken into account the wider context in which the request has been made.

Given that the requested information appears to have only a commercial
interest to it, it is reasonable to withhold information from disclosure
under Section 14 of the FOI Act.    When considering whether your request
is potentially vexatious, other indicators listed below have been taken
into consideration, including:           

• Burden on the authority  

Organisations and institutions are having to continually adapt and divert
resources to key areas to ensure that the entity continues to operate. The
burden and time needed to collate information pertaining to spend and the
other requested information is better spent actually implementing and
maintaining our services, functions and systems

• Disproportionate effort       

The matter being pursued by the requester is only for commercial gain and
not for any public interest and the authority would have to expend a
disproportionate amount of resources in order to meet their
request.       

Given the nature of the requested information, in light of the
above-referenced arguments, disclosure thereof, is withheld from
disclosure in accordance with Section 14 of the FOI Act and the request is
refused.

If you disagree with this decision, please confirm why you would consider
publication through FOI is in the public interest, rather than
a commercial purpose.

If you are dissatisfied with the University’s response to your freedom of
information request, you can ask us to internally review our handling of
your request, including the application of any exemptions applied. This
must be within 40 working days from the date of our response to you.

To do this, please email [3][Durham University request email].

Please state the grounds on which you wish the decision to be reviewed and
enclose any other information that may be useful in considering the matter
further. We aim to inform you of our decision within 20 working days from
the date your request for internal review is received.

If you are not satisfied with the results of the internal review you may
apply to the Information Commissioner's Office for an independent review.

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

[4]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely

Information Governance Unit

Durham University

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Information Governance Unit, University Secretary’s Office

e: [5][Durham University request email]

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CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
This message is intended solely for the addressee(s) in the first instance
and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended
recipient, please notify the sender, delete the message from your system
immediately and do not disclose the contents to any other party.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov....
2. https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/AAC...
3. mailto:[durham%20university%20request%20email]
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
5. mailto:[durham%20university%20request%20email]