Current contract(s) held with Michael Page

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035040

I note you seek access to the following information:

I would like to make a request for information on your current contract(s) held with Michael Page.

Please may you confirm the following:

1. What services are included in the contract(s)? (e.g. contingent labour, permanent recruitment).
2. How many contracts does this entail and what is the award value for each?
3, On what date do these contracts start?
4. When do these contracts expire and do they have any extensions?
5. Were any framework agreements used to procure the goods/services? If so, which ones?
6. Who is responsible for the 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 40(2)(3) - Personal information

Reason for decision

Before I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline the parameters set out by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) within which a request for information can be answered.

When a request is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), a public authority must inform you, when permitted, whether the information requested is held. It must then communicate that information to you. If a public authority decides that it is cannot comply with all or part of a request, it must cite the appropriate section or exemption of the Act and provide you with a suitable explanation. It is important to note that the Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.

Some of the information you have requested is exempt by the virtue of Section 40(2) and (3) - Personal information of the Act.

I have considered your request (question 6) for information regarding:

- Who is responsible for the contract?

The above requests for information is exempt under:

Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information - Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 confirms that information which relates to an identified or identifiable living individual is Personal Data.

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 Personal Data:

- Who is responsible for the contract?

Where the request is seeking information that identifies an individual, 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 3A, 3B and 4A of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as amended by Section 58 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 set out in the 2018 Act and these can be found at section 34.

In this instance I have decided that the disclosure of the Personal Data would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which states that the processing (in this case the disclosure) of the data must be both lawful and fair.

Disclosure

In response to your request for information regarding the current contract(s) held with Michael Page.

Q1 - What services are included in the contract(s)? (e.g. contingent labour, permanent recruitment)

The service is for permanent Commercial Recruitment.

Q2 - How many contracts does this entail and what is the award value for each?

There is one contract with an award value of £60k.

Q3 - On what date do these contracts start?

The contract started on 1 June 2023.

Q4 - When do these contracts expire and do they have any extensions?

The contract expires on 31 May 2025 and has no extension.

Q5 - Were any framework agreements used to procure the goods/services? If so, which ones?

This service was procured by mini competition on CCS Framework RM6290 Lot 1.