Waste Services for South Hams District Council

The Council holds information in relation to financial payments and contractual deductions to FCC, but has deemed that this information should not be disclosed pursuant to Regulation 12(5)(e) Commercial or industrial information of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

A Public Interest Test was undertaken to determine whether the information should be released and the conclusion of this can be found below:

Reasons for disclosure:

• Disclosure of this information would promote general openness and transparency by the Council
• Allow the public to understand the Council's decision-making processes
• Allow the public and council tax payers to understand how finances are spent
• Allow the public a better understanding in relation to the contract for Waste Collection and Recycling, Street Cleansing, Toilet Cleaning Service

Reasons for non-disclosure:

The public interest in not disclosing the information relating to financial payments and contractual deductions within the contract for Waste Collection and Recycling, Street Cleansing, Toilet Cleaning Service. The disclosure of this information will adversely affect the commercial interests of the Council at a time when Council resources are under pressure.

In order for Regulation 12(5)(e) to be applicable, the ICO states that a number of conditions must be met. These are:

• Is the information commercial or industrial in nature?
• Is the information subject to confidentiality provided by law? Is the confidentiality provided to protect a legitimate economic interest?
• Would the confidentiality be adversely affected by disclosure?

Is the information commercial or industrial in nature?

The information is commercial in nature as it relates to the commercial activity relating to delivering a contract for Waste Collection and Recycling, Street Cleansing, Toilet Cleaning Service. This is a provision of goods and services. Releasing information relating to financial payments and contractual deductions within the contract would place these figures into the public domain.

Is the information subject to confidentiality provided by law and is the confidentiality provided to protect a legitimate economic interest?

The financial payments and contractual deductions within the contract were negotiated with the contractor on the understanding that they would remain confidential. The contract was signed between the two parties on this basis. This can be found under Schedule 12 3.4, Form 4: Commercially Sensitive Information, of the contract. This would have been the same for any company tendering for the contract. These tender competitions are extremely competitive, with extremely tight margins between being successful in winning a contract and not.

The information relating to financial payments and contractual deductions agreed between the contractor and council is neither trivial, nor in the public domain. The Council believe that it is subject to a common law duty of confidence in relation to the figures agreed during the competitive tender process.

Would the confidentiality be adversely affected by disclosure?

As the first three elements of this exception are established, the Council consider that it is inevitable that this element is also met. Disclosure of the truly confidential information into the public domain would inevitably harm the confidential nature of the information by making it publicly available. It would also harm the legitimate economic interests that have been identified.