Information on Facilities Management Contracts and/or Frameworks

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.024578

I note you seek access to the following information:

I would be most grateful if you would provide me, details in respect to any Catering, Cleaning, Security, Technical Services (this includes and planned or reactive repairs & maintenance) and facilities management services you have on contract.

The details we require are:

1. Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages
2. Actual spend on this contract/framework (and any sub lots), from the start of the contract to the current date
3. Start date & duration of framework/contract?
4. Could you please provide a copy of the service/product specification given to all bidders for when this contract was last advertised?
5. Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and,
6.if so, the duration of the extension?
7. Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?
8. Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 31 (1) Law enforcement
Section 40 – Personal Information
Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests

Reason for decision

Information has been provided to you today for Question One (1) in an attached spreadsheet.

Information pertinent to Question One (1), other than information provided to you today, is also exempt by virtue of the following exemption;

Section 31 (1) Law enforcement
Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests

Section 31(1)(a) (Law enforcement) - Disclosure provides MPS security data which, if disclosed, can be used as intelligence to carry out criminal activity, due to an adverse FOIA disclosure.

Disclosure would lead to a loss of confidence in the MPS’ ability to protect the physical health, wellbeing and safety of the community, which includes protecting its police officers/staff from attacks (for example when due to an adverse FOIA disclosure regarding service specifications).

The risks to individuals are likely to be significant if the information is used by those with the necessary criminal intent to undermine its very purpose (crime prevention and detection within the community).

Disclosure may lead to the unlawful targeting of police staff and officers who are carrying out their duty, which is not in the public interest.

Extra security measures and policing resources may need to be put into place with the disclosure of this information. This is because of the risk disclosure brings in that it could be used as intelligence by those with the necessary criminal intent to undermine the safety of employees who undertake policing duties in local areas.

The other information disclosed today ensures the public interest is met without placing law enforcement and the safety and security of MPS employees, in harm’s way.

I appreciate this is not the decision you would have liked for this part of your request. However this decision has been made on the understanding that the public interest is not what interests the public but is what would be of greater interest to the public as a whole, should the information be disclosed.

Section 43(2) - Commercial Interests - provides that any information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person.

The MPS has claimed Section 43(2) of the Act, in that the disclosure would reveal information that would prejudice the commercial interests of the MPS and bidders (including future bidders).

Public disclosure would harm the Met’s ability to achieve best value in future procurement processes in this area. The MPS would not want to public disclose information regarding bidders that would make any future procurement process in this area less competitive. The release of any information that would negatively influence, or impact upon, a future procurement process is unlikely to be in the public interest.

In deciding whether to claim the commercial interests exemption (Section 43) of the Act, I have considered whether the public interest lies in favour of releasing the information requested or whether there is sufficient reason to support withholding it.

In this case, disclosure would harm future procurement processes in respect of. Disclosing information about MPS choices regarding third party companies. This would occur as competitors in this process would be aware of the price paid by the MPS for support and maintenance in respect of its current contracts. This would negatively impact upon the Met’s ability to achieve best value in future procurement processes in this area along with undermining third parties who were not successful.

Having considered the competing public interest factors, I have found that the public release of information that would negatively influence or impact upon a procurement process is not in the public interest. I have accordingly refused this part of your request for information.

I have today decided to disclose information held for Questions Two (2), Three (3), Five (5), Six (6) and Seven (7).

The MPS is required to refuse disclosure of the answers held for Question Four (4) by virtue of the following exemption;

Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests (see above)

In respect of Question Eight (8) the MPS has provided a partial disclosure today for this question by disclosing the role relevant to the question. Other than information disclosed to answer this question today in the Disclosure section, any further personal information pertinent to this question engages the following exemption;

Section 40(2) Personal Information

Section 40(2)(3A)(a) (Personal Information) - The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption. The information sought under your Freedom of Information request includes the following which we consider to be the Personal Data of the individuals that could be identified through the release of this information/ Personal information requested within this FOIA request includes:

• Names of living individuals

Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the Section 40(2) exemption may be engaged. In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption, the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3(A), 3(B) and 4(A) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the Data Protection Act 2018 principles. There are six Data Protection principles specified within Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In this instance we have decided that the disclosure of the Personal Data would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which requires that personal data shall be: ‘processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’);

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, the disclosure of personal data is considered to be lawful if:

a. There is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of that personal data.
b. The disclosure of the personal data is necessary to meet that legitimate interest.
c. The disclosure would not cause unwarranted harm to the data subject.

Here, we need to balance the rights and freedoms of the individuals involved with any legitimate public interest in disclosure. Having considered the release of the identified personal data, the MPS has found, having considered the legitimate interest test, that, whilst there is an element of public interest in the recorded information, the information requested is uniquely personal to individuals in the context of their personal and working lives in connection to their occupation.

The MPS does understand that the information requested relates to the policing community and the use of public funds. We appreciate there is always a public interest in knowing information held regarding MPS property and how resources/funds are spent and used.

However, disclosure of the requested information under FOIA legislation is not necessary to meet a legitimate interest. This is particularly so when considering the distress that is likely to be caused to individuals with the disclosure of their personal information via an FOIA request.

With this in mind, the data subjects in the circumstances of your request would have a legitimate expectation that this type of personal data would not be used for non-policing purposes (i.e. FOIA requests – disclosures for which are put up publicly on the MPS website Publication Scheme).

The public interest in disclosure of information relating to contracts is met by the disclosure of non-harmful details disclosed to you today.

Disclosure in the circumstances of your request would be unlawful and would therefore contravene the first data protection principle. I have therefore applied the exemption provided under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act to this information as the first condition, defined in subsection 3(A)(a) of Section 40 has been satisfied.

This therefore becomes an absolute exemption, and I am not required to provide you with a public interest test.

A Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. This is because, under Freedom of Information, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world and not just to one individual. Recently the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was been introduced across the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).

In respect of the United Kingdom, GDPR was enshrined in UK law through the Data Protection Act 2018. The MPS, like all UK public authorities are obliged to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and this includes the protection of personal data. Information captured by your request, can fairly be considered "personal data" and sensitive, with a clear identifiable link.

In most cases, personal data is exempt from disclosure under the remit of the Freedom of Information Act. Where an individual is requesting third party personal data the MPS must ensure that any action taken adheres to the principles of GDPR/ the Data Protection Act 2018.

To clarify, the Freedom of Information Act only allows disclosure of personal data if that disclosure would be compliant with that law. The disclosure of the information you have requested must be carefully managed in order to ensure that there is no prejudice to any person in any possible way, however remote.

Disclosure

Q1 - Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages

In respect of suppliers who were successful for inclusion on frameworks or or contracts, the information you have requested has been disclosed today. Please see the attached spreadsheet.
Any further information pertinent to this request is exempt, as explained above.

Question Two (2), Three (3), Five (5), Six (6), Seven (7) -
Q2 - Actual spend on this contract/framework (and any sub lots), from the start of the contract to the current date
Q3 - Start date & duration of framework/contract?
Q5 - Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s)
Q6 - if so, the duration of the extension?
Q7 - Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?

The information you have requested has been disclosed today. Please see the attached spreadsheet.

In respect of Question Seven (7), please be aware that decisions are made after considering a number of factors, contract headroom, level of service etc. and will be subject to regular review.

Q8 - Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract?

The answer to this question is the Head of Facilities Management.