Security costs at Musgrave House

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust,

I would like a breakdown of both initial and ongoing security costs for the recently refurbished Musgrave House. This would include lighting, alarm systems, staffing and any ongoing payments such as monitoring services and contracts, as well as any other costs that may be reasonably deemed relevant.

Please supply these in a digital spreadsheet format - preferably CSV.

If these figures are not yet available can you please say when they will be. If this is the case can you also supply details of contracts agreed with suppliers of such services. Please note that these are not covered by Section 41 of the FOI Act: ICO guidance states that:

"A concluded contract agreed between a public authority and another person is not usually information being provided by one party and obtained by the other. Therefore, in most cases, information in a concluded contract cannot benefit from the section 41 exemption because it has not been obtained by the public authority from another party".

Please also note that ICO guidance on Section 43 of the Act states that "Whilst the view of the third party, where given, should always be taken into account the final decision whether to disclose the information or apply section 43 will always rest with the public authority." It also states that information can only be withheld if public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs public interest in disclosure.

Finally, Part V of the Section 45 Code of Practice states that "When a public authority enters into a contract, it should let that other party know before the contract is drawn up that part or all of the contract may be disclosed in response to a freedom of information request. Public authorities can use confidentiality clauses to identify information that may be exempt, but they should carefully consider the compatibility of such clauses with their obligations under the FOIA. They may also help identify occasions where the other party to a contract should be consulted before disclosure. Such clauses cannot however prevent disclosure under the FOIA if the information is not confidential."

As these will be recently agreed contracts, I assume that they follow these guidelines.

If part of the information is available before another part, please supply it when it becomes available.

If you need any other information to help process this request faster, please let me know, and if you can help me in any way to obtain the information, in line with the obligations under the FOI Act, please do.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Bradshaw