Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Email Provider

Matthew Etherington made this Freedom of Information request to Doncaster Borough Council Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

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The request was refused by Doncaster Borough Council.

Dear Doncaster Borough Council,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Specifically, I am seeking information regarding your secure communication.

s43(1) applies to trade secrets - it *cannot* be used to refuse this request.
s43(2) deals with prejudice to commercial interests, and similarly cannot apply either - how can giving the name of a supplier be prejudicial?
FOIA - which takes a neutral approach to requests (i.e. there is no "purpose" clause or provisions) - can be a driver to economic growth and competition, and that it is absolutely acceptable for businesses to request information like this, and disclosure should be made.

Please provide me with the following information:

1. What is your current email provider (e.g. Outlook or G-suite)?

2. Do you have a solution for secure email in place (Y/N)?

3. Who is your current email security provider (e.g. Egress)?

4. When is the contract up for renewal?

5. Typically what is the chosen duration of these contracts 12, 24, or 36 Months?

6. Name and contact details of the person responsible?

7. Current annual spend for this contract?

8. Current number of licenses for this contract?

9. Did you purchase via a reseller, or partner (if yes, please specify who e.g. Phoenix, Softcat etc.)?

10. Are you planning on assigning specific budgets for securing email communication
in 2024?

11. Do you procure through the G-Cloud framework (if not, how do you procure &
plan to procure secure email in the future)?

Yours faithfully,

Matthew Etherington

Hi Matthew

Re: Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your request for information.

I can confirm your request has been passed to the relevant department who will endeavour to search for any information held and provide you with a response as soon as is possible. This will be within 20 working days and in any case by the 16th April 2024

Yours sincerely,
Sophie

Sophie Ormshaw

Information Governance Officer
Information Governance Team
Corporate Resources
City of Doncaster Council
Civic Office (Floor 2)
Waterdale
Doncaster
DN1 3BU

Phone: 01302 735326
E-mail: [email address]
Web: http://www.doncaster.gov.uk/

Please treat the content of this e-mail as confidential. If you have received this e-mail and it is not addressed to you please accept my apologies and inform me as soon as possible.

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Dear Mr Etherington

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 17 March 2024, for information about City of Doncaster Council's email provider.

Please find below City of Doncaster Council’s responses to the questions you have raised.

Request:
1, What is your current email provider (e.g. Outlook or G-suite)?

Response:
City of Doncaster Council's current email provider is Microsoft.

Request:
2. Do you have a solution for secure email in place (Y/N)?

Response:
City of Doncaster Council can neither confirm nor deny that it holds information falling within the description specified in your request in relation to having a solution for secure email in place. Confirming or denying whether the information is held would be likely to prejudice the prevention and detection of crime as it is believed that disclosing the information would make City of Doncaster Council more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and hackers. The duty in Section 1 (1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act does not apply by virtue of section 31(3) of that Act . No inference can be taken from this refusal that the information you have requested does or does not exist.

Request:
3. Who is your current email security provider (e.g. Egress)?

Response:
Please see response to question 2.

Request:
4. When is the contract up for renewal?

Response:
With regard to the Microsoft contract, this information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the Freedom of information Act. Section 21 exempts information from the right of access if that information is reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means. In this case the information can be accessed via City of Doncaster Councils Contracts Register at: https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/th...