Dear Ms Ademolu,

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Information Request

Further to your request for information, which Eden Girls’ Leadership
Academy, Birmingham, received on Monday 17th October 2022, I advise you
that the request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.   

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know.  If a fee is payable a fees notice will be issued to you and
you will be required to pay before I will proceed with your request. 

You will receive the information requested within 20 school days unless
Star Academies does not hold the information or there is a reason for it
to be withheld.  I will contact you further in either event.  I advise you
that the latest date for a response to be supplied to you has been
calculated as Monday 21st November 2022.

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

Simon Thomson
Information Governance Lead Adviser

Seconded to Star Academies, Wednesday 12:30pm – Friday each week until
31st December 2022.
 
0330 313 9862 | [1][email address]

 
 
Star Academies | Shadsworth Road, Blackburn BB1 2HT
0330 313 9800 | [2][email address] | [3]staracademies.org |
[4]@StarAcademies
 
 
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any accompanying documents
contained within are intended for the recipients. Any views or opinions
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the views and opinions of Star Academies. This information is private and
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this email in error, please:
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taking of any action based on the contents of this information is strictly
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LIABILITY NOTICE: We make every effort to keep our network and emails free
from viruses. You should however, check this email (and any attachments)
for viruses. Star Academies does not accept responsibility for losses
incurred as a result of this email or any attached files.

 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Steph Ademolu <[6][FOI #908242 email]>

Sent: 17 October 2022 16:13

To: Info Eden Girls Birmingham <[7][Eden Girls&#39; Leadership Academy, Birmingham request email]>

Subject: Freedom of Information request - School uniform supplier details

 

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Dear Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Birmingham,

 

 

 

Under the FOI Act I would like to request the following information
regarding the contract with your supplier(s) of sports uniform/kit:

 

 

 

1) How many suppliers do you have a contract with?

 

2) How was the contract awarded e.g. open competition, direct award? Was
the local authority involved in the tender of this contract?

 

3) Date the contract was awarded?

 

4) Date the contract will expire?

 

5) What competitors, if any, were considered?

 

6) What criteria was used to select the supplier?

 

7) Does the school profit from the contract, e.g. as a result of uniform
sales? If yes, what remuneration is received?

 

8) If the school has not entered into a contract with the supplier(s),
what is the nature of the agreement in place?

 

9) Does the contract contain any clauses relating to the cost or
affordability of items?

 

10) Please provide a copy of the contract with commercially sensitive
details redacted.

 

Please note that redaction costs cannot be counted towards any cost limits
under the FOI Act.

 

Please also note that for information to be withheld under Section 43
(commercial sensitivity), the following must be provided:

 

Details of the exact FOIA exemption – either 43.1 Trade Secrets or 43.2
Commercial Interests

 

Details of who would be prejudiced

 

A “Public Interest Test” where the arguments for and against release of
the information should be discussed (as this is a “qualified” exemption).

 

If release of the information could prejudice a third party, they should
be consulted with (see FOIA Section 45 Code of Practice Part IV)

 

Please also note that contracts drawn up since 2005 are supposed to
include provisions requiring organisations to comply with the FOI Act.

 

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

Steph Ademolu

 

 

 

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[10][FOI #908242 email]

 

 

 

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please contact us using this form:

 

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Dear Ms Ademolu,

 

Following your email, which we received on Monday 28th December 2022,
please find the information we sent out to you on Thursday 10th November
2022.  Please note that the documents are password protected, however,
once you have confirmed receipt of the information I will supply the
password to access the information.

 

Regards,

 

 

Simon Thomson

 

 

“Dear Ms Ademolu,

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Information Request

 

Thank you for your request for information, dated Tuesday 6th September
2022, requesting information about sports uniform/kit from Eden Girls’
Leadership Academy, Birmingham, which is operated by Star Academies.

 

The answers to the questions that you have asked as part of your Freedom
of Information request are below.

 

1) How many suppliers do you have a contract with? One.

 

2) How was the contract awarded e.g., open competition, direct award? Was
the local authority involved in the tender of this contract? Open
competition (OJEU/FTS level).

 

3) Date the contract was awarded? 01/09/2020.

 

4) Date the contract will expire? 31/05/2025

 

5) What competitors, if any, were considered? There was open competition
in the market and eight bids were received and evaluated.

 

6) What criteria was used to select the supplier? The following two
factors made up the key criteria used to select a supplier: Quality 60% of
the total criteria . Price 40% of the total criteria.

 

7) Does the school profit from the contract, e.g., as a result of uniform
sales? If yes, what remuneration is received? No, no income or profit is
received by the school or the trust. All payments are made direct to the
supplier.

 

8) If the school has not entered into a contract with the supplier(s),
what is the nature of the agreement in place? Not applicable.

 

9) Does the contract contain any clauses relating to the cost or
affordability of items? The contract includes agreed prices for all
garments

 

10) Please provide a copy of the contract with commercially sensitive
details redacted. The contract is attached, however, please read the
information below regarding the exemptions under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 that have been applied in relation to the contract. 
The attached documents are all encrypted, once we have received
confirmation of receipt, we will share the password to access the
documents.

 

 

Contract

 

We are releasing the contract to you; however, we are claiming an
exemption under Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation
to certain parts of the contract.  The parts of the contract covered by
this exemption are as follows:

 

• Clause 2.12.3 (page 13) of the main contract.
• DW Stevenson clarification questions and responses 3 and 4.     
• Appendix 5 – Pricing information.  We have exempted information
relating to bundle discounts and pricing information contained within
columns AA, AC, and AF from release.  

 

This is claimed under “Section 43(2) Commercial Interest”, which states
that information is exempt from disclosure if it would, or would be likely
to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person, including private
organisations and public authorities.   

 

We have taken into consideration the requirement to consider the public
interest and have concluded that any public interest in maintaining the
exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

This consideration is based on the fact that releasing the information
would be likely to prejudice Star Academies’ ability to procure high
quality suppliers on a competitive basis and our public duty to gain best
value in securing future contracts.  Please note that Star Academies does
not receive any commercial benefit from our contract with Stevenson’s and
neither do we receive any form of profit from this arrangement.       

 

In Section 4 (pages 34 and 35) of the contract, which relates to
specification, we have exempted information contained within subsection
1.1, as information about Star Academies (number of schools within the
Trust, types of school, and schools that were scheduled to join Star
Academies at the time the contract was signed) is available on the Star
Academies website ([1]www.staracademies.org).

 

Appendix 1, which relates to school and student details has been exempted
in line with Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as this
information is already reasonably accessible by other means.  Information
about our schools can be found on the Star Academies website ([2]Star
Schools - Star Academies) and further information about pupil numbers can
be located via [3]Get Information about Schools - GOV.UK
(get-information-schools.service.gov.uk).   

 

Please note that we are not releasing Appendix 4 of the contract, which
relates to unform specification, as this information is also supplied in
Appendix 5, pricing information.

 

Any personal information relating to third parties contained within the
contract has been exempted in line with Section 40(2) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, which relates to the personal data of third
parties.  Supplying this information would breach principle one of the UK
General Data Protection Act, which relates to lawfulness, fairness, and
transparency.  It is our view that it would be unfair to release this
information.      

 

Please note that I have also removed specific information about non-sports
uniform from the contract, as your request related solely to sports
kit/uniform.

 

Star Academies are compliant with the Department for Education’s (DfE)
statutory guidance on uniforms, however, following the introduction of the
new DfE statutory guidance, the trust has reviewed its sport kit with a
view to reducing the number of branded items in the secondary sports kit
to reduce the cost to parents. Sports kits are worn by some pupils when
competing against pupils from other schools, therefore it is important
that the kit retains an element of branding. This will be achieved by
retaining the branded sports tops (a short or long-sleeved polo shirt).
However, all Star secondary schools will phase out the current branded
‘bottom halves’ from the sports kit (shorts, skirt, tracksuit bottoms and
socks). These items will be replaced with plain black, unbranded items
available from parents’ choice of retailer. The transition to phase out
the branded ‘bottom halves’ is likely to take several years – subject to
current stock levels – starting in summer 2023 at the earliest. This
change will reduce the total number of compulsory branded items to three
and further reduce the cost to parents. 

 

Schools within the trust also have a second-hand uniform provision and
details are published on the school website and communicated to
parents.   

  

If you are unhappy with the service that you have received in relation to
your request and wish to request a review of the decision, you should
write to:  Freedom of Information, Star Academies, Shadsworth Road,
Blackburn, BB1 2HT or email [4][email address]. 

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your review, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. 
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted Star
Academies’ procedure.  The information Commissioner can be contacted at: 
Telephone 0303 123 1113 or via [5]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,”

 

 

 

 

Simon Thomson
Information Governance Lead Adviser

Seconded to Star Academies, Wednesday 12:30pm – Friday each week until
31st December 2022.
 
| [6][email address]

 
 
Star Academies | Shadsworth Road, Blackburn BB1 2HT
0330 313 9800 | [7][email address] | [8]staracademies.org |
[9]@StarAcademies
 
 
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any accompanying documents
contained within are intended for the recipients. Any views or opinions
presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent
the views and opinions of Star Academies. This information is private and
protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient and have received
this email in error, please:
1. Notify us immediately by replying to this email or contacting Star
Academies via [10][email address]
2. Delete this email immediately from your inbox and then from your
deleted items folder too.
3. Be aware that by Law any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the
taking of any action based on the contents of this information is strictly
prohibited.
LIABILITY NOTICE: We make every effort to keep our network and emails free
from viruses. You should however, check this email (and any attachments)
for viruses. Star Academies does not accept responsibility for losses
incurred as a result of this email or any attached files.

 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

 

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