Copy of the RM contract
Dear South West Grid for Learning,
According to a 29 March 2010 press release,[1] RM was appointed by the South West Grid for Learning Trust (SWGfL) as preferred bidder for an eight-year £10m per year contract. It has been disclosed that this contract commenced on 1 September.[2]
The process was managed through OJEU procedures under which SWGfL is considered a public contracting authority.
[1] http://www.rm.com/Investors/NewsDetail.a...
[2] http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ic...
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which applies to all UK public authorities, please send me:
(1) Copies of the tender documents that were published through the OJEU procedure or an on-line link where they are made available;
(2) The number of bids that were (a) submitted, and (b) shortlisted.
(3) A full copy of the contract that was signed with RM, the eventual winner of the procurement procedure.
Yours faithfully,
Julian Todd
The original message was received at Tue, 7 Sep 2010 12:39:00 +0100
from in5.mx.ifl.net [217.181.2.37]
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<[SWGfL request email]>
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... while talking to [10.224.103.200]:
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554 5.0.0 Service unavailable
Sent request to South West Grid for Learning Trust again.
Dear Mr Todd
Thank you for your information request which we received on 13 September. We have conducted a procurement process for our Managed Service Agreement with RM using the Competitive Dialogue procedure under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006. We attach a copy of the OJEU Notice and Contract Award Notice as requested in the first part of your request.
In response to the second part of your request, we can confirm that 7 PQQs were returned, 6 companies progressed to the dialogue stage and 3 responses were received to our Invitation to Final Tender.
However, whilst we are a "contracting authority" for the purposes of those Regulations, we are not within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act as we are a charitable company with multiple owners. Notwithstanding this, in the spirit of good faith, we intend to provide a copy of the redacted contract as per the third part of your request. Given our limited resources this will take us a short while to prepare given the personal data contained within it as well as the commercial sensitivity and confidentiality of some of its contents. Please also note that, as we are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, we are not under an obligation to respond within certain timescales, nor do we operate any appeals procedures, however we will endeavour to provide you with the redacted contract as soon as possible.
Alternatively, and to ensure that our resources are directed to our charitable objectives wherever possible, we would be pleased to discuss your requirements for information and provide summary information where this would be of equal use to you.
I trust that this will meet with your satisfaction, but if not do please let me know and I will do my best to provide you with more detail wherever possible.
Kind regards
Richard Harrison
Chief Operating Officer
South West Grid for Learning Trust
Belvedere House
Woodwater Park
Pynes Hill
Exeter
EX2 5WS
T: 0845 601 3203
F: 01392 366 494
M: 07760 558 128
E: [SWGfL request email]
W: www.swgfl.org.uk
The South West Grid for Learning Trust Limited is a charitable Trust Company Registered in England. Company number: 5589479. Charity number: 1120354. VAT registration number: GB 880 8618 88. Registered office: SWGfL Project Office, Belvedere House, Woodwater Park, Pynes Hill, Exeter, EX2 5WS.
This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of South West Grid for Learning Trust Ltd. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error.
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[Insert your disclaimer here]
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Dear Richard Harrison,
Thank you for your reply concerning my FOI request for details about the RM contract which included a promise to disclose as much of the contents of the contract as you can.
This is a very large and important contract in the field of public procurement, and it definitely comes within the terms of the coalition agreement, which stated:
"We will require all councils to publish items of above £500, and to publish contracts and tender documents in full."
Although SWGfL is 100% owned by local public authorities, I concede that there is a loophole in the FOI law that allows it to escape from the obligations that would normally apply to it. As you know, this loophole is closed in other jurisdictions, and amendments to fix it in the English law are under consideration -- with SWGfL as one of the example cases.
So I thank you for your cooperation in disclosing the details of this contract, which will allow the many of your public sector customers to make better and more informed opinions about the services in the interests of the public.
Yours sincerely,
Julian Todd
Dear Mr Todd
Apologies for the delay in responding to your mail below.
Thank you for your response. We note your comments regarding the transparency requirements for councils in the Coalition agreement. We would reiterate that we are a charitable company and we consider that we are complying with all relevant obligations placed on us, indeed we are exceeding these obligations in providing these documents to you in good faith.
We will be in touch with you in due course to provide these documents as requested.
Richard Harrison
Chief Operating Officer
South West Grid for Learning Trust
Belvedere House
Woodwater Park
Pynes Hill
Exeter
EX2 5WS
T: 0845 601 3203
F: 01392 366 494
M: 07760 558 128
E: [SWGfL request email]
W: www.swgfl.org.uk
The South West Grid for Learning Trust Limited is a charitable Trust Company Registered in England. Company number: 5589479. Charity number: 1120354. VAT registration number: GB 880 8618 88. Registered office: SWGfL Project Office, Belvedere House, Woodwater Park, Pynes Hill, Exeter, EX2 5WS.
This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of South West Grid for Learning Trust Ltd. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error.
Save a tree… please don’t print this email unless you really need to
Dear Mr Todd
Further to your recent request, please find attached a redacted copy of the contract as promised.
I trust that this will meet with your satisfaction.
Please do let me have any queries or questions which might arise.
Kind regards
Richard Harrison
Chief Operating Officer
South West Grid for Learning Trust
Belvedere House
Woodwater Park
Pynes Hill
Exeter
EX2 5WS
T: 0845 601 3203
F: 01392 366 494
M: 07760 558 128
E: [SWGfL request email]
W: www.swgfl.org.uk
The South West Grid for Learning Trust Limited is a charitable Trust Company Registered in England. Company number: 5589479. Charity number: 1120354. VAT registration number: GB 880 8618 88. Registered office: SWGfL Project Office, Belvedere House, Woodwater Park, Pynes Hill, Exeter, EX2 5WS.
This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of South West Grid for Learning Trust Ltd. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error.
Save a tree… please don’t print this email unless you really need to
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