PFI Advisers - Conflict of Interest

The request was partially successful.

Dear Bridgend County Borough Council,

Which companies have advised your local authority on each of its PFI projects and contracts from inception, through procurement, during construction and operation on issues relating to structural, legal, financial, governance, audit and performance review. Please provide that information by each PFI scheme, providing the HMT unique reference number.

Please provide documentation demonstrating how your local authority selected the advisers referred to above? Please provide any internal or external process documents (e.g. from HM Treasury/ Partnerships UK) in relation to the selection, a copy of invitations to tender and tender documents.

Please provide documents demonstrating how your local authority, as part of that selection, ensured that the auditors and lawyers, accountants and business consultants referred to above were not conflicted in any way with any of the organisations involved previously or currently with your PFI project(s). This could include documents, statements and correspondence between the local authority and its auditors relating to any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest.

Please provide all policies/protocols or any other documentation which demonstrate how your local authority continues to ensure that auditors and consultants continue to be free of conflicts of interest.

Yours faithfully,

Megan Ingles

foi, Bridgend County Borough Council

Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST X01-6329

We acknowledge your request for information received on 18 May 2017.

We are considering your request and you should receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, unless the information is exempt or we require additional time to consider whether disclosure is in the public interest in accordance with section 2 of the Freedom of Information Act.

We will try to supply information in electronic format by email, but if this is not possible we will let you know. If you have any special requirements e.g. language, audio, large print, etc. then please let us know.

The Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you have requested. Before we provide the information we will consider whether it is proper to release it and if any of the exemption categories do apply then the information will not be released. We will tell you if this is the case, and you will have a right of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the information to you. We will tell you if this is the case.

You may have to pay a fee for this information. We will consider this and let you know. If so you will have to pay the fee before we process and release the information.

If you have any queries or concerns, then please contact me directly. You can find out more about the Act from the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office – Wales 2nd Floor Churchill House Churchill Way Cardiff
CF10 2HH
Telephone: 02920 678400 Fax: 02920 678399
Email: [email address]
Website: https://ico.org.uk/

Yours sincerely

Y Swyddfa Rhyddid Gwybodaeth | Freedom of Information Office
Gwasanaethau Gweithredol a Phartneriaethol | Operational and Partnership Services
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-Y-Bont ar Ogwr | Bridgend County Borough Council
Ffon / Phone: (01656) 643473
Ffacs / Fax: (01656) 657899

E-bost / E-Mail [Bridgend County Borough Council request email]
Gwefan / Website: www.bridgend.gov.uk

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Rhowch wybod i ni os mai Cymraeg yw eich dewis iaith.
We welcome correspondence in Welsh. Please let us know if your language choice is Welsh.

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foi, Bridgend County Borough Council

Dear Ms Ingles

I write further to your foi request made on 18 May 2017 and must advise that further time is required to provide you with a response. We hope to provide a response within the next 10 working days.

Please accept our apologies for the delay.

Yours sincerely

Y Swyddfa Rhyddid Gwybodaeth | Freedom of Information Office
Gwasanaethau Gweithredol a Phartneriaethol | Operational and Partnership Services
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-Y-Bont ar Ogwr | Bridgend County Borough Council
Ffon / Phone: (01656) 643473
Ffacs / Fax: (01656) 657899

E-bost / E-Mail [Bridgend County Borough Council request email]
Gwefan / Website: www.bridgend.gov.uk

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Rhowch wybod i ni os mai Cymraeg yw eich dewis iaith.
We welcome correspondence in Welsh. Please let us know if your language choice is Welsh.

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Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn cynrychioli
safbwyntiau'r unigolyn a'i anfonodd (unigolion a'u hanfonodd) ac ni ddylid eu
hystyried fel safbwynt swyddogol Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr.
Mae'r cynnwys yn gyfrinachol ac wedi'i fwriadu ar gyfer y sawl y'i cyfeiriwyd ato
yn unig. Os ydych wedi ei dderbyn mewn camgymeriad, rhowch wybod i weinyddwr y
system ar (+44) 01656 642111.

Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau wedi cael eu sganio gyda 'Mcafee' -
http://www.mcafee.com/
________________________________________________________________________

foi, Bridgend County Borough Council

Dear Ms Ingles,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST X01- 6329

 

We refer to your email dated 24 May 2017 which contained a request for
information as set out in italics below.  Following consideration of your
request, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I respond
to each point as follows:

 

Which companies have advised your local authority on each of its PFI
projects and contracts from inception, through procurement, during
construction and operation on issues relating to structural, legal,
financial, governance, audit and performance review. Please provide that
information by each PFI scheme, providing the HMT unique reference number.

 

Please provide documentation demonstrating how your local authority
selected the advisers referred to above? Please provide any internal or
external process documents (e.g. from HM Treasury/ Partnerships UK) in
relation to the selection, a copy of invitations to tender and tender
documents.

 

Please provide documents demonstrating how your local authority, as part
of that selection, ensured that the auditors and lawyers, accountants and
business consultants referred to above were not conflicted in any way with
any of the organisations involved previously or currently with your PFI
project(s). This could include documents, statements and correspondence
between the local authority and its auditors relating to any conflict of
interest or potential conflict of interest.

 

Please provide all policies/protocols or any other documentation which
demonstrate how your local authority continues to ensure that auditors and
consultants continue to be free of conflicts of interest.

 

Whilst we can confirm that we hold the information requested, we have
estimated that the cost of complying with your request will exceed £450. 
We have made this calculation in accordance with Regulation 4 of the
Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees
Regulations) 2004. This calculation was based on an hourly rate of £25.00
for the cost of locating, retrieving and extracting information involved
in the processing of your request.

 

We have calculated that it will take in excess of 18 hours to comply with
your request.  All the documentation in relation to the Authority’s PFI
project is located in 20 archive boxes, in order to retrieve the
information requested, all the boxes will need to be checked through.

 

Under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act we are not obliged to
comply with a request for information if we estimate that the cost of
compliance would exceed £450.  This letter is therefore a formal Refusal
Notice under section 17(5) of the Act.

 

It may be that we can supply some information if you can refine or reduce
your request to more manageable proportions and resubmit your request so
that it brings the cost within the appropriate limit.

 

Alternatively, if you wish to pay a full search and retrieval fee, we may
be prepared to consider your request under Section 13 of the Freedom of
Information Act which allows us to charge a fee where the estimated costs
exceed the £450.00 limit. 

 

In order to assist you we are able to provide the following information:
the Authority has one single PFI Contract which is for Maesteg Secondary
School. The HMT reference for the scheme is 619.

 

External Advisers

The Authority has no previous experience of PFI projects, but has staff
with extensive experience of complex land issues, property transactions,
and contractual and technical expertise in the fields of engineering and
building. It was recognised from the start that there was insufficient
in-house expertise in the key aspects of PFI procurement and subsequently
the following external legal, financial and technical/ cost advisers were
appointed to assist throughout the procurement process.

 

Financial Advisers – Grant Thornton LLP

Legal Advisers – Eversheds LLP

Technical Advisers – EC Harris

 

The appointments were made with the approval of the Policy and Resources
Committee and followed a rigorous selection and evaluation procedure based
on the recommendations in the Treasury Taskforce Private Finance Technical
Note No.3. Guidance was also sought from the Council’s Procurement Unit
regarding the impact of the EC public procurement rules.

 

The project team has also sought specialist advice on the risk and
insurance aspect of the transaction from Marsh UK Ltd, the Authority’s
retained advisers.

 

Our auditors are appointed by the Auditor General for Wales. In respect of
conflicts of interest where the organisation / firm may also act as
consultants, lawyers and accountants we would obviously ensure that they
were firstly not employed in any situation in which this is likely to
occur whilst in addition relying on the internal structures of the
companies themselves to provide suitable segregation and therefore
assurance that this would not happen.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of the request, under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 you have the right to request a review of
the Council’s response to your request for information.  If you wish to
request a review, please write to:

 

Mr P A Jolley

Corporate Director, Operational and

Partnership Services and Monitoring Officer

Bridgend County Borough Council

Civic Offices,

Angel Street

Bridgend, CF31 4WB

 

within 28 days of the date of this letter.  If you remain dissatisfied
with the outcome of that review, you may seek further recourse by lodging
an appeal with the Information Commissioner at:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office – Wales

2^nd Floor

Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Tel:  02920 678400

Fax:  02920 678399

E:mail : [1][email address]

Website:  [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely

--

Freedom of Information Office

Bridgend County Borough Council

Level 2, Civic Offices

Angel Street

Bridgend

CF31 4WB

Tel: 01656 643565

Email: [Bridgend County Borough Council request email]

 

 

 

 

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