Lessons Learnt/ South by South West Event - Austin 2024
Dear Department for Business and Trade,
1. Please send copies of any lessons learnt, feedback or debriefing documents related to South by South West Festival, Austin, Texas
2. Please send copies of any email communication between DBT team members and South by South West Festival staff related to this event.
Yours faithfully,
Wendy James
DBT ref: FOI2024/11287
Dear Wendy James
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 20th
November. On behalf of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) your
request has been passed on to the appropriate official at DBT to process.
Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and we will reply at the latest by 19th December.
If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information
Rights Unit. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any
future communications.
Kind regards,
Information Rights Unit
Please see a link to our Privacy Notice:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
Our ref: FOI2024/11287
Dear Wendy James,
I am writing with regards to your request for information, was received
20th November.
We have started to consider your request, however we require further
information before we are able to proceed.
In relation to question 2 of your ask please can you clarify if by DBT
team members you mean the policy team dealing with this event, Ministers,
Senior offices or all DBT staff.
As you will appreciate the statutory timescale for our response to your
request will not commence until we are supplied with the further
information which we require. In the event that we do not hear from you we
will assume that you do not wish to proceed with your request.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Unit
Please see a link to our Privacy Notice:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
Dear Information Rights Unit,
Thanks for your email.
I am happy to remove question 2 from this request, so please proceed with the response in relation to Question 1.
Yours sincerely,
Wendy James
DBT ref: FOI2024/11287
Dear Wendy James
Thank you for your clarification which was received on 20th November. On
behalf of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) your request has
been passed on to the appropriate official at DBT to process.
Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and we will reply at the latest by 21st January.
If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information
Rights Unit. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any
future communications.
Kind regards,
Information Rights Unit
Please see a link to our Privacy Notice:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
Case Reference: FOI2024/11287
Dear Wendy James,
We can confirm that the Department holds information falling within the
terms of your request. However, we need more time to consider your
request.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 ('the Act') obliges us to respond to
requests promptly and in any case not later than 20 working days after
receiving your request. However, when a 'qualified' exemption applies to
the information and an accompanying public interest test is engaged,
section 10(3) of the Act allows the time for response to be extended, in
which case a full response must be provided within such time as is
reasonable in all circumstances. In the case of this FOI request, we are
considering section 43 (Commercial Interests). However, this is not yet
finalised and will be subject to changes.
The Department has not yet reached a decision on the balance of the public
interest. Due to the need to consider, in all the circumstances of the
case, where the balance of the public interest lies in relation to the
information that you have requested, the Department will not be able to
respond to your request in full within 20 working days.
We hope to let you have a response by 18th February.
Kind regards,
Information Rights Unit
Department for Business and Trade | Old Admiralty Building| London SW1A
2DY
| E-mail: [email address]
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References
Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
2. http://www.great.gov.uk/?utm_source=staf...
3. https://twitter.com/tradegovuk
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
5. http://on.fb.me/1atEmJr
Dear Wendy James ,
Please find attached a response from the Department for Business and Trade
to your freedom of information request FOI2024/11287.
Kind regards,
Information Rights Unit
Department for Business and Trade | Old Admiralty Building | London | SW1A
2DY | E-mail: [email address]
Dear Department for Business and Trade,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Business and Trade's handling of my FOI request 'Lessons Learnt/ South by South West Event - Austin 2024'.
I do not agree with the exemptions that have been applied. There is an overriding public interest in ensuring taxpayers receive value for money for public spending and that can only be assessed when viewed against the feedback received. Details of feedback have been fully redacted. It is accepted that feedback which clearly identified the person having given the feedback should be rejected, but blanket redactions such as this are unnecessary.
I do not accept the decision to redact other details, such as financial details. There is significant public interest on in assessing spend and budgets on these events and therefor this information should be released. The tendering position would not be jeopardised. The venue is different from the previous year meaning a totally new set of budgets are required to be produced. This event has already been fully planned in 2025, so it would be impossible to jeopardise the tendering of this as the work is already complete.
Disclosure of information could actually assist the government’s tendering position by companies reviewing previous costs and offering alternate and more cost effective solutions which may save the government money.
It is not accepted that any commercial interests of the contractor, Bray Leino, would be harmed. They engaged in a public tendering exercise and their documentation shojld be public.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...
Yours faithfully,
Wendy James
Dear Information Rights Unit,
Please withdraw this request for an internal review.
Yours sincerely,
Wendy James
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