MFD and Print - Notice of tender distribution

Your email request for information under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 is acknowledged. 

If your query relates to a subject access/medical records request please
contact the medical records department at: [email address].

If your query relates to a reference request please send this to:
[email address].

If your query relates to any other personal information/Data Protection
Act matters please contact the Information Governance Manager at:
[email address].    

If your query does not relate to the Freedom of Information Act or Data
Protection Act please contact the Communications Department at:
[email address].

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Dear Lianne S Hollings,

I am writing in respect of your recent request for information to Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust (“The Trust”) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“The Act”) which we received on 06 April 2023.

We have considered your request under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act which entitles you to be provided with any information held by a public authority, unless an appropriate exemption applies. Accordingly, we have answered your request in the order raised:

1, Do you lease/rent or purchase your printers/Multi-Functional Devices? – Lease.
2, Who is your current supplier? – Ricoh.
3, What are the end dates of your current contract(s)? – 31.10.2023.
4, What was your approximate spend on consumables for the last 12 months? – Exempt Section 43(2).
5, What is the total mono print volume per annum? – As at 31.12.2022 mono print 4,438,134.
6, What is the total colour print volume per annum? – As at 31.12.2022 colour print 1,167,748.
7, What is your annual spend? – Exempt **Section 43(2).
8, What is the up-to-date number of MFD’s or Photocopiers within the Trust? 247 total printers.
9, What is the up-to-date number of desktop printers within the Trust? – Desktop printers 190 (out of the 247).
10, When are you going out to tender? Date not agreed.
11, Will you be looking for a full managed service? Yes.
12, Will you be going through the LLP government framework? – Currently LPP Framework. Not yet agreed.
13, Do you have an onsite print room or is this outsourced? – No external printing.

*****Section 43(2) Exemption:
Information pertaining to spend is exempt under section 43 of the Act on grounds that complying with your request would prejudice /or likely to prejudice the commercial interest of any legal person (an individual, company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity).

Section 43(3) provides an exemption from the duty to confirm or deny whether we hold the information, if doing so would, /or would likely prejudice the interests protected by Section 43(2). The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) considers commercial interest to be a legal person’s ability to participate competitively in commercial activity with the underlying aim to make profit. However, it could also be to cover costs /or to simply remain solvent.

The ICO also defines prejudice in legal terms to mean harm. To say that that disclosure would, /or would be likely to, prejudice someone’s commercial interests implies that it would (or would be likely to) harm those interests. In matters such as procurement activities which involves purchase of goods and services, including services outsourced to private companies to be delivered on behalf of the Trust, we consider this information to be exempt from disclosure because it could significantly impact on the Trust competitively negotiating contracts it considers to be best value for money.

In considering your request, we have considered public interest test in providing the information to you.
Factors considered in favour of disclosure of the information:
• the Trust should remain open and transparent in its tendering and negotiating activities to maintain greater public confidence in its activities.
• that it is always in public interest that public organisations act with integrity by justifying public spend.
• that as a public authority, the trust should be subject to scrutiny in its financial affairs given it is a publicly funded organisation to ensure that public funds are used efficiently.

Consideration made against disclosure of information pertaining to spend:
The Trust acknowledges that although there are extenuating factors in favour of the information being disclosed, the public would not expect The Trust to disclose information which could negatively impact on its ability to negotiate and /or compete in a commercial environment. As such, any such public interest ramifications are thus outweighed by use of Section 43(2) exemption to protect its own interests.

Conditions of use
Any information supplied to you is free to use for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication and subscription charge, would require the permission of the Trust.

Our copyright and database right material is licensed for use and re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL). You can view the licence online, or write to: Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU

We hope you are satisfied with the way in which your request was handled, if not you may request an internal review by writing to the Chief Executive at the address shown at the top of this letter or by email to: [email address], within 40 days of this letter. When contacting the Trust please quote the above reference that is unique to your request.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner, who will consider whether the Trust has complied with its obligations under the Act, and can require the Trust to remedy any problems. You can find out more about how to do this, and about the Act in general, on the Information Commissioner’s website at: http://www.ico.org.uk/. Appeals to the Information Commissioner should be sent to: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Freedom of Information Manager
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
St Ann’s Hospital, London N15 3TH
Email for FOI matters: [Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust request email]

Web: http://www.beh-mht.nhs.uk/
Twitter: @BEHMHTNHS / Facebook: http://www.fb.com/behmht

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