Grant of CIF funding following scope change request

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Education,

You have refused my request to provide copies of the two Condition Improvement Fund bids (including supporting documents) submitted by Cotham School Bristol in late 2019/early 2020, together with any related correspondence and the outcomes of the bids. You stated that a key reason for refusal related to the fact that those bids were unsuccessful.

I now request that you disclose (a) Cotham School's successful scope change request in relation to the 16/17 CIF grant CRM: 012700178, which I understand resulted in a grant of £430,800 to the school for the refurbishment of its pavilion, together with (b) internal and external correspondence relating to that request from 1 May 2020 onwards.

Yours faithfully,

Lucy Thomas

MINISTERS, Department for Education

1 Attachment

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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear  Lucy Thomas 

Thank you for your recent enquiry which was received on 18 April.

A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the
departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should
be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated
reference number 2021-0023559.

 

Department for Education

Ministerial and Public Communications Division

Tel: 0370 000 2288

Web: [1]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [2]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [3]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

 

 

 

 

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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear Ms Thomas

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 19 April
2021. You requested:

(a) Cotham School's successful scope change request in relation to the
16/17 CIF grant CRM: 012700178, which I understand resulted in a grant of
£430,800 to the school for the refurbishment of its pavilion;
(b) internal and external correspondence relating to that request from 1
May 2020 onwards
 

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”). The Department holds the information you have requested.
However, I consider that the following exemptions apply to your request:

* Section 43(2) of the Act – where disclosure of information would, or
would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person
(an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other
legal entity). There are many circumstances in which a public
authority might hold information with the potential to prejudice
commercial interests, including around procurement and contract costs
impacting on value for money to schools and the public purse
* Section 36(2) of the Act – where, “in the reasonable opinion of a
qualified person” (for a Government Department, a minister),
disclosure would (b)(i) inhibit the free and frank provision of
advice; (b)(ii) would inhibit the free and frank exchange of views for
the purposes of deliberation; or (c) otherwise prejudice, or would be
likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs

The Act obliges the Department to respond to requests promptly, and in any
case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. However,
where one of the exemptions listed above is applicable, the Department
must consider whether the greater public interest lies in disclosing or
withholding the information. In these circumstances, the Act allows the
time for response to be longer than 20 working days.
 

In this case, the Department estimates that it will take an additional 20
working days to take a decision on where the balance of the public
interest lies. It is anticipated that you will receive a full response by
15 June.  If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a
conclusion, we will keep you informed.
 

I will explain how we are applying the exemptions when I write to you
again with a full response to your request.
 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
 

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter. Your complaint will be considered by an
independent review panel, which were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.
 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s
Office.Dear Ms Thomas
 

Yours sincerely,

Capital Correspondence Team

 

 

ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Thomas

I refer to your request for information, which was received on 18 April
2021.

You requested:

“that you disclose (a) Cotham School's successful scope change request in
relation to the 16/17 CIF grant CRM: 012700178, which I understand
resulted in a grant of £430,800 to the school for the refurbishment of its
pavilion, together with (b) internal and external correspondence relating
to that request from 1 May 2020 onwards”

Further to our letter of 14 May, I can confirm that the Department holds
information in scope of your request. Copies of information which can be
disclosed are enclosed, with some redactions under the following
exemptions.

Some information has been redacted under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of
Information Act. Personal data is that which relates to a living
individual who can be identified from that data, or from that data and
other information which is likely to be in, or to come into, the
possession of the requestor. Disclosure of this information would
contravene a number of the data protection principles in the General Data
Protection Regulations / Data Protection Act 2018, and would be regarded
as ‘unfair’. By that, we mean the likely expectations of the data subject
that his or her information would not be disclosed to others and the
effect which disclosure would have on the data subject. Section 40(2) is
an absolute exemption and is not subject to the public interest test.
Part of the information you have requested is being withheld under section
43(2) of the Act. This comprises costs from the scope change request (SCR)
and some cost amounts included in correspondence and attached
documentation. Section 43 provides for information to be exempt from
disclosure where disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to,
prejudice the commercial interests of any person. This exemption requires
a public interest test to be carried out, to determine whether the public
interest in withholding the information, outweighs the public interest in
its release.
There is a public interest in ensuring openness and transparency around
the allocation of funding to show that public money is being used
effectively and that the department is getting value for money. However,
the general public interest must be balanced against the public interest
in protecting commercially sensitive information.  Release of proposed or
actual costs against elements of works weakens the department’s
negotiating position on directly-procured school rebuilds and
refurbishments, as well as the commercial position of other applicants.
Public release of cost thresholds could be used by commercial companies as
a benchmark to set costs at levels higher than necessary, with an impact
on value for money for the public purse on current and future projects.

In addition to the above, part of the information is being withheld under
section 36. We consider that the release of some of the information
requested would or would be likely to inhibit the free and frank provision
of advice under section 36(2)(b)(i); inhibit the free and frank exchange
of views for the purposes of deliberation under section 36(2)(b)(ii); or
would be likely otherwise to prejudice the effective conduct of public
affairs, under section 36(2)(c).

Under Section 36(2), the Department is not required to provide
information, if in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person (a
Minister in the case of Government Departments) disclosure of the
information under the Act would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely
otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs. In
relation to your request, a Minister has decided that, in their reasonable
opinion, disclosure of some of the information in scope is likely to have
this prejudicial effect and therefore the exemption in Section 36(2)
applies.

Section 36(2) is a qualified exemption and therefore a public interest
test has been carried out. In favour of disclosure is the general public
interest of open and transparent government, with assurance to citizens on
the management of capital funds and due process of programme funding
delivery.  Set against this is the need for schools to be able converse
transparently with the department about proposed changes to projects or
issues of cost or time in their delivery, and for us to negotiate with
schools. If schools cannot communicate freely and frankly with the
department, it will restrict our ability to make decisions in the public
interest and for changes to be made to projects. In conclusion, we
determined that arguments in favour of withholding the information
outweigh the arguments in favour of disclosing it.
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If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within 2 calendar
months of the date of this letter.  Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Yours sincerely

Lateef Agboola
Director’s Office Support Team | Capital Directorate | Operations Group |
5^th Floor | Sanctuary Building | Great Smith Street | London | SW1P 3BT

 

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