Re: FOI Request CEX/99JCN9 Wifi

Dear Mr Harrop

Re: FOI request CEX/99JCN9 – Wifi

Thank you for your request for information, which was received by Manchester City Council on 10th July and has been considered under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your request:-

“I would like details of the winning proposal for the award of a concession to use street furniture for the deployment of wifi and small cells”

Response:-

Having carefully considered the information contained in the proposal, the Council has determined that the balance of the public interest lies in the disclosure of the tender response. Please find the tender document enclosed with this letter.

However, the Council has determined that it is unable to disclose the tender document in full because some of the information is exempt from disclosure under the following qualified exemption:

Section 43(2) of FoIA: (disclosure of information that would, or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it))

In considering the exemption at Section 43(2) of FoIA the Council has to take into account the fact that disclosure under FoIA constitutes publication to the world at large. The Council has determined that the information contained in the redacted sections of Arqiva’s tender should not be disclosed under the provisions of FoIA because the disclosure of:

• Proposal and method statements
• Responses in answer to Council Specification requirements
• Confidential references and case studies
• Detailed information about pricing contained in the Pricing Schedule;
• Financial Statements

to the world at large under FoIA is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Arqiva in a competitive environment, since it would reveal information of potential usefulness to competitors.

This exemption is a 'qualified' exemption, which means that it is subject to a public interest test. The Council has applied the public interest test and has determined that, on balance, it is more beneficial to the public to withhold the information than to release it. In reaching this decision the Council has considered the following factors:

• in openness and transparency;
• that private sector bodies engaging in commercial activities with the public sector must expect some information about those activities to be disclosed.

However, it must balance these considerations against:

• the risk of prejudice to the commercial interests of Arqiva if the requested information were to be disclosed to the world at large under FoIA;
• the effect that disclosure of commercially sensitive information might have in discouraging companies from dealing with the Council because of fears that the disclosure of such information could damage them commercially;
• the inherent public interest in ensuring that competition is not distorted and that companies are able to compete fairly and in ensuring that there is fair competition for public sector contracts;
• the inherent public interest in ensuring that parties bidding for contracts are able to supply confidential references and case studies in support of their bids;
• the risk that release of the requested information may jeopardise the Council’s bargaining position in relation to future tenders and thereby result in the less effective use of public money;

Having considered these factors I am satisfied that the harm likely to arise from disclosure of the requested information is real and significant and outweighs the public interest arguments in favour of disclosure. I have therefore decided that the information contained in the redacted sections of Arqiva’s tender should be withheld because the Council considers that this information is exempt from disclosure under Section 43(2) of FoIA.

Please note if you are not satisfied with this response you may ask for an internal review. If you wish to complain you should contact me in the first instance.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Paul Murphy

Deputy Head of Corporate Procurement