My Ref:
IG-17258
Your Ref:
Contact:
Freedom of Information Team
Email:
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Freedom of Information Team
Information Compliance
Legal & Governance
2nd Floor
Loxley House
Station Street
Nottingham
Requester
NG2 3NG
At contact address specified for request number above
Tel: 0115 876 4376
Email:
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk
06 March 2023
Dear Requester
Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act)
The council has considered your request which was received on 06 February 2023
and our response to your questions is shown below.
I would be most grateful if you would provide me, under the Freedom of
Information Act, details in respect to the contract below.
The details we require are:
1. What Parking Enforcement Contacts do you currently have in the market?
Bristow & Sutor, Marston Holdings & Equita Limited. The Council completed the
process via the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisations Dynamic Purchasing System
(reference 953)
2. Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and were
successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages
Place Bidder
Successful / Not Successful
1st
Bristow & Sutor
Successful
2nd
Marston Holdings
Successful
3rd
Equita Limited
Successful
4th
Newlyn Plc
Not Successful
5th
Rundle & Co Ltd
Not Successful
3. Actual spend on these contracts and frameworks(and any sub lots), from the
start of the contract to the current date
Zero
4. Start date & duration of framework/contract?
Start date: 1 April 2020 and End date 31 March 2024
5. Could you please provide a copy of the service/product specification given t
o
all bidders for when these contract was last advertised?
Please find the above requested information in the attached.pdfs.
Please note parts of the attached documents have been redacted to remove details of
council employees below the level of Head of Service. In accordance with section
40(2) of the Act, the personal information about identifiable living individuals is exempt
if disclosure to a third party would contravene one of the UK General Data Protection
Regulations (UK GDPR) principles.
Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, states:
“40 Personal information.
(1)Any information to which a request for information relates is exempt
information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data
subject.
(2)Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt
information if—
(a) It constitutes personal data which does not fall within subsection (1), and
(b)the first, second or third condition below is satisfied.
(3A)The first condition is that the disclosure of the information to a member of
the public otherwise than under this Act—
(a)would contravene any of the data protection principles, or
(b)would do so if the exemptions in section 24(1) of the Data Protection Act
2018 (manual unstructured data held by public authorities) were disregarded.
(3B)The second condition is that the disclosure of the information to a member
of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene Article 21 of the
GDPR (general processing: right to object to processing).
(4A)The third condition is that—
(a)on a request under Article 15(1) of the GDPR (general processing: right of
access by the data subject) for access to personal data, the information would
be withheld in reliance on provision made by or under section 15, 16 or 26 of,
or Schedule 2, 3 or 4 to, the Data Protection Act 2018, or
(b)on a request under section 45(1)(b) of that Act (law enforcement processing:
right of access by the data subject), the information would be withheld in
reliance on subsection (4) of that section.”
The council are required under section 40(2) to take in account the UK GDPR, in
particular Article 4, which states:
“‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable
natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be
identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as
a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or
more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic,
cultural or social identity of that natural person”.
The council has considered the principles of the UK GDPR in our decision as to
whether to disclose the redacted information. The redacted information identifies
living individuals and is therefore classified as personal data. As the withheld
information constitutes personal data, the council needs to consider whether
disclosure would breach the data protection principles. Principle (a) under Article 5 of
the UK GDPR is the most applicable. When considering whether disclosure of
information is a breach of principle (a), the council must consider whether disclosure
is lawful and then whether it is fair.
The lawful basis that is most relevant in this case is legitimate interests under Article
6.1(f). The council needs to balance the rights and freedoms of the individuals with
legitimate public interest in disclosure. The council does not believe there is any
lawful basis to disclose this information in a Freedom of Information response.
Unlike a public interest test in the case of section 40(2) there is an assumption
against disclosure and therefore a justification is needed for disclosure. The council
does not believe there is any significant commercial interest, or societal benefits in
disclosing the redacted information, and your request does not outline any legitimate
interests that this information should be disclosed. Junior employees would be
concerned if their names on documents used for internal purposes were disclosed to
the wider world in response to a Freedom of Information request. The council believes
disclosure of this information would cause an unwarranted interference with those
individuals’ rights.
In addition, the council must also consider whether it is fair in general terms to
disclose the information. The council considers it would not be fair to disclose the
redacted information. As per guidance from the Information Commissioners Office
(ICO), the council should treat all requests for information equally, and the council
should only disclose information under the Act if the council would disclose it to
anyone else who asked, therefore release of information under the Act should be
considered as if it were being released to the world at large. These individuals would
not expect their personal information to be disclosed at the time the information was
provided and would not expect their personal information to be disclosed to the world
at large without their consent. Regarding council employees, the Information
Commissioner’s guidance states ‘It is reasonable to expect that a public authority
would disclose more information relating to senior employees than more junior
ones…the disclosure must not cause unwarranted interference with the rights,
freedoms and legitimate interests of the employee’. It is the council’s general
guidance not to disclose personal information related to employees below the level of
Head of Service.
The council have therefore determined that in this instance the disclosure of this
information to you otherwise than under the Act would contravene Principle (a) of the
UK GDPR – lawfulness, fairness and transparency.
The council is withholding this information as detailed above under section 40(2).
Please accept this letter as a partial refusal notice issued in accordance with section
17 of the Act.
6. Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the
duration of the extension?
There was an extension of 1+1+1 years which has been accepted and is now
extended to 31 March 2024
7. Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are
being either extended or renewed?
Contract has been extended to 31 March 2024
8. Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this
contract?
Regarding the name of the officer responsible for this contract, this information has
been withheld. In accordance with section 40(2) of the Act, the personal information
about identifiable living individuals is exempt if disclosure to a third party would
contravene one of the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR)
principles.
The council are required under section 40(2) to take in account the UK GDPR, in
particular Article 4 which states: “‘personal data’ means any information relating to an
identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person
is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an
identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier
or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental,
economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person”.
The ICO advises public authorities must consider the consequences of disclosing
information under the Act, to the world at large, and not just the impact of providing
the material to a particular requester. Upon consideration, the council have
determined that in this instance the disclosure of this information would breach the
first data protection principle in Article 5 of the UK GDPR which states that personal
data must be ‘processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to
individuals’. The individual involved would not reasonably expect this information
about them to be released to the world.
Regarding council employees, the Information Commissioner’s guidance states ‘It is
reasonable to expect that a public authority would disclose more information relating
to senior employees than more junior ones…the disclosure must not cause
unwarranted interference with the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the
employee’. It is the council’s general guidance not to disclose personal information
related to employees below the level of Head of Service.
The council have therefore determined that in this instance the disclosure of this
information to you otherwise than under the Act would contravene Principle (a) of the
UK GDPR – lawfulness, fairness and transparency...
The council is therefore withholding some information as detailed above under section
40(2) of the Act. Please accept this letter as a partial refusal notice issued in
accordance with section 17 of the Act.
In accordance with section 16(1) of the Act, the council has a duty to provide advice
and assistance to you, as far as it is reasonable to do so. The council can advise
Nottingham City Council does not respond to unsolicited requests regarding sales,
procurement and commissioning. Departments must follow a strict procedure as the
council has a responsibility to spend public money to achieve the best possible value
and outcomes for its citizens whilst maximising the wider social, economic and
environmental aims. The council can direct you to the council’s website pages for
procurement opportunities, where you can register to be notified on upcoming
procurement opportunities, events and how to sell to the council:
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/business-information-and-support/doing-business-
with-nottingham-city-council/
You are free to use any information supplied for your own personal use. If the
information provided is marked as published under
an Open Government Licence y
ou
are free to reuse it, subject to the licence terms. However, if the information is not
published under an Open Government Licence and you wish to reuse it, for example,
by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public you are required to
request permission for re-use of this information under the Re-use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005 (RPSI). Your RPSI request must be in writing and
include your name and address for correspondence, and specify the information you
want to re-use and the purpose you intend to use it for.
If you are unhappy with the response provided or with the handling of your request,
you can ask for an internal review in writing stating the reasons for your
dissatisfaction. Your request for an internal review should be made to the council
within forty working days of the date of this letter. Please quote reference IG-17258 in
all communications.
You can contact the Freedom of Information Team either by email:
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx or writing to the
Freedom of Information Team,
Information Compliance, Legal & Governance, 2nd Floor, Loxley House, Station
Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG.
If you remain unhappy after receiving the response to your initial complaint you can
request an independent review from the Information Commissioner's Office at
FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. You may also contact the
Information Commissioner's Office by telephone on 01625 545745 or by email at
xxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
Legal & Governance
Nottingham City Council
Document Outline