- Date released
- 8 June 2023
- Request number
- 202305010
- Release of information under
- Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)
Information requested
Under the Public Sector Freedom of information Act would you be kind enough to provide me with the following information, where appropriate, in relation to the ITT Leadership tender please?
- Who is the current provider for both levels of the requirement?
- What has been the total cost of delivering one cohort at Foundation level and one at Advanced level?
- How many days of learning have been delivered at each level to achieve the respective qualification?
- Is the qualification an award, certificate or diploma?
- What “daily rate” has been paid for both design and delivery at each level?
Information released
We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold some information relevant to your request. Please see below for a response to each of your questions.
Question 1 - Who is the current provider for both levels of the requirement?
Answer 1 - There is currently no active contract in place for delivery of the services for either programme.
Question 2 - What has been the total cost of delivering one cohort at Foundation level and one at Advanced level?
Answer 2 – The total cost for delivery of one cohort for the foundation level was £35,385. The advanced level is a new requirement therefore there has been no previous expenditure for this.
Question 3 - How many days of learning have been delivered at each level to achieve the respective qualification?
Answer 3 - There were 12 days of learning for the foundation level. There have been none for the advanced level as this is a new requirement.
Question 4 - Is the qualification an award, certificate or diploma?
Answer 4 - No, this is a not a requirement of the service tendered for, but bidders may choose to offer one as part of their proposal.
Question 5 - What “daily rate” has been paid for both design and delivery at each level?
Answer 5 - I confirm that under s.1 we do hold information for the foundation level, we do not hold any information for the advanced level as this is a new requirement.
However, the information for the foundation level has been withheld under s.43(2) (commercial interests) of the FOIA. S.43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity).
As this is a qualified exemption we are required to balance the public interest between disclosure and non-disclosure. We have therefore applied the Public Interest Test, as set out below.
Factors for disclosure
- ONR is committed to being an open and transparent regulator. We use openness and transparency to achieve our objective of developing and maintaining stakeholder trust in ONR as an effective independent regulator.
Factors against disclosure
- We are currently in the middle of a live tender process for this service. Disclosing details of the daily rate for the previous contract would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial position of the previous contract holder. The disclosure would disadvantage them when they come to retender for the contract as it would provide a commercial advantage to any competitors; and
- Disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the previous contract holder’s commercial interests when tendering for contracts with other organisations. Providers of this service operate in a highly competitive market, where price is often a deciding factor when securing contracts. The release of this information could enable competitors to understand their pricing structures in greater detail, providing a commercial advantage which could arm competitors with ways to undercut pricing and win future tenders.
Conclusion
ONR tries to be as open as possible when answering requests for information, however on this occasion we have decided that the substantive arguments for non-disclosure outweigh the reasons for disclosure. As such, we have declined to release the information requested in line with s.43(2) of the FOIA.
Further guidance on this can be found on the ICO website at the following link:
Further information
Please see the following link below in relation to a previous FOI response regarding the provision of a Foundation Leadership Development Programme to ONR that we hope you find helpful:
Exemptions applied
s.43
PIT (Public Interest Test) if applicable
N/A