Dear James,

Many thanks for your email below requesting information regarding Private Sector contracts.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty working days.

If you have any queries about this request, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards
Sophie

Sophie Cain
Acting Legal Secretary
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Headquarters
Unit 8
The Point
Lions Way
Sleaford
NG34 8GG
Tel no: 01529 222271
Fax no: 01529 222224
Email: [email address]
Confidential Email: [email address]

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT
DISCLAIMER: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addessed. Therefore if the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this E-Mail is strictly prohibited.  Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust unless otherwise explicitly stated.  The information contained in this E-Mail may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the confidentiality of this E-Mail and your reply cannot be guaranteed. 

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Dear Mr Lazou

Further to your Freedom of Information request, as per your email below, please find attached our response. You will note that we have provided to you a full list of all private and independent sector organisations currently contracted to provide NHS services for the Trust and what service they provide. The information contained in the spread sheet attached shows the duration of each contract and tenders currently being undertaken.

The Trust recognise the need for transparency in the accountability of public funds. However, it is considered that by disclosing the value of the contracts would likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Trust by affecting adversely its bargaining position during contractual negotiations which would result in the less effective use of public money.

In addition, the NHS is subject to large organisational changes which can come into effect at any time within a Contract period. We make provision for this and always have such changes built into the specification. To give values would suggest a spend that could bear no resemblance to what the Contract could end up being. This could leave the Trust open to a challenge if suppliers tendered using values of Contract given by ourselves.

Contracts are invoiced retrospectively with regard to usage. The Trust does not pay for any work/service it has not received. Therefore we are unable to say with certainty what the value of a contract can be before they have received the service/work.

The tender process must be fair to all suppliers. To give a value of a Contract could put the current provider at a disadvantage as other suppliers would know what their costs were overall. A challenge or breach of contract could also be sought from the current provider should this be the case.

In view of the above, we submit that Section 43 (2) of the FOI Act applies to the disclosure of the contract values and this information is exempt from disclosure.

With regards to your question 3, we confirm that less than 10 housekeeping staff have been transferred to contracting organisation as a result.

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is established and constituted under the NHS Act 2006 and is a contracted provider of certain health and social care services in Lincolnshire. The Trust is commissioned under formal contracts by both the Local Authority and the Primary Care Trust to deliver specified functions and does not deliver the statutory health or social care functions of local government or the NHS unless contracted to do so. As the Trust is does not commission services we are unable to provide you with the information you require in question 4 of your request.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can be also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. For information about re-using Crown Copyright see the Office of Public Sector Information website at www.opsi.gov.uk. The copyright in some documents may rest with a third party. For information about obtaining permission from a third party see the Intellectual Property Office’s website at www.ipo.gov.uk.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to: FOI Department, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Units 8 & 9, The Point, Lions Way, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8GG. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

FOI Department
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Unit 8, The Point, Lions Way, Sleaford, NG34 8GG

Confidentiality Statement Disclaimer: This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Therefore if the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust unless otherwise explicitly stated. The information contained in this e-mail may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the confidentiality of this e-mail and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

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