FOI request (FOIR-611470624)

Facilities Management

Requested Fri 03 May 2024
Responded Wed 15 May 2024

1. Office and building cleaning - Service contract that is focused around office, commercial and building cleaning services.

2. Lift service and maintenance - Service contract for lift service and maintenance.

3. Food - Service contract that is focused around catering services.

4. General waste services contracts - The organisation's primary general waste service contract.

5. Laundry services - Where clothes and linen can be washed and ironed.

For each of the contracts, please provide:

a. Supplier/Provider of the services.

b. Total annual spend - The spend should only relate to each of the service contracts listed above.

c. A description of the services provided under this contract. Please include information if other services are included under the same contract.

d. The number of sites the contract covers.

d. Only for the lift contract, the brand name of the type of lifts used by the organisation.

e. The start date of the contract.

f. The end date of the contract.

g. The duration of the contract. Please include information on any extension periods.

h. Who within the organisation is responsible for each of these contracts? Please provide a name, job title, contact number, and email address.

Response

1. Office and Building Cleaning - In house.

2. Lifts - Please see refusal notice below. We can confirm this is a rolling contract.

3. Food - Information not held.

4. General Waste - In house.

5. Laundry - Information not held.

NOTICE OF REFUSAL

The information you have requested in respect of the company and spend on contracts is commercially sensitive and falls under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act - Commercially Sensitive Information - Information prejudicing commercial interests - commercial interest relating to an organisations commercial activity and may include trading activity procurement and relationships with third parties.

The exemption afforded by Section 43 is subject to what is known as the 'public interest test'. When applying the test in a particular case a public authority is deciding whether the public interest is better served by non-disclosure than by disclosure.

Although the Freedom of Information Act does not define 'in the public interest', there is a presumption under Freedom of Information that openness is in the public interest. In applying the public interest test a public authority will take into account the distinction that has been often made by courts between things that are in the public interest, and things that merely interest the public. Where applicants have not identified public interest considerations succinctly or accurately, the public authority has a responsibility under the Act to make their own assessment of the public interest considerations in the particular case.

We have identified the following public interest factors that may be seen as encouraging the disclosure of information:

a) accountability of public spending.

We consider these factors to be of limited relevance in relation to the information in question.

Public interest factors seen as encouraging non-disclosure are, generally, the exemptions themselves. In consideration of this matter we came to the following conclusions:

a) ensuring that companies are able to compete for business fairly.

b) damage to reputation and/or financial interests.

In weighing the factors for and against disclosure we have concluded that the likely benefit to the applicant and the wider public of disclosure is outweighed by the likely prejudice caused by such disclosure and that therefore the public interest is better served by non-disclosure.

For the reasons given above we will not be communicating to you the information you have requested.