Dear Wai,

Re: Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your request for information.

I can confirm your request has been passed to the relevant department who will endeavour to search for any information held and provide you with a response as soon as is possible. This will be within 20 working days and in any case by 14 March 2024.

Many thanks
Ellen Dook

Information Governance Officer
Corporate Resources
City of Doncaster Council

Phone 01302 736745
Address Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU
Website www.doncaster.gov.uk

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Dear Wai M Yau

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 15 February 2024, for information about South Yorkshire Airport City procurement and business case costs.

Please find below City of Doncaster Council’s responses to the questions you have raised.

Request:
"I would like to request the external consultant costs for the process of procuring an airport operator and producing the various business cases for Project South Yorkshire Airport City. I believe these are in the public interest.

I would like details a full list of consultants, what activities they provided and the cost of procuring that advice "

Response:
The information relating to costs is exempt from disclosure under Section 43 of the Freedom of information Act. Section 43 exempts information from the right of access under the Freedom of Information Act if disclosure of the information would prejudice someone’s commercial interests.

The information withheld under the exemption relates to costs negotiated with external consultants. City of Doncaster Council believes that the release of this information would be likely to cause commercial prejudice to the businesses involved.

As Section 43 is a qualified exemption, the City of Doncaster Council is obliged to consider whether disclosure of the information would be in the public interest before refusing to supply the information. Therefore the City of Doncaster Council has taken the following factors into account:

Factors for disclosing information:

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Factors for withholding information:

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Taking these factors into consideration, City of Doncaster Council has decided that the reasons for withholding the information outweigh those for disclosing it and we will not be providing the information at this time.

With regard to the details concerning a full list of consultants and what activities they provided, this information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the Freedom of information Act. Section 21 exempts information from the right of access if that information is reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means. In this case contracts over £5k, in accordance with the Local Government Transparency Code, is available on City of Doncaster Councils Contracts Register at: https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/th... you can apply a filter to the subject headings and filter out the relevant contracts or you can search using keywords such as DSA, Airport or SYAC by using the Ctrl and F keys together.

Information relating to every transaction paid out to suppliers above £250 is available at: https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/th... and further information is also available at: https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/th... and https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/th...

I hope that this information is useful to you.

City of Doncaster Council estimates that it has cost £46.00 to respond to this request for information.

Reviewing any decisions made:

If you are not happy with this reply you can ask us to review our response. To do this write to us within 40 working days of receiving your response at the address below or email [email address]

If you do not agree with the review decision you can apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision about our compliance or otherwise with the Freedom of Information legislation. Contact details for the ICO are: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. www.ico.org.uk Telephone 0303 123 1113.

Yours sincerely,

Lucy McMahon
Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Resources
City of Doncaster Council

Phone 01302 736000
Address Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU Email [email address] Website www.doncaster.gov.uk

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