In preparation for the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on 1 January 2005, institutions will have developed and published publication schemes and put in place mechanisms to deal with enquiries. Under the legislation, any member of the public will be able to ask a public body for information about its activities regardless of when that information was created or how long it has been held. This openness has created a need for improved record keeping and a standardised method of responding to any enquiries.
Note: a request for personal information falls under the Data Protection legislation.
In respect of procurement activity, the institution should endeavour to ensure that, as far as practicable, procurement activity falls within the auspices of good procurement practice. Further, in keeping with the spirit of the EU Public Procurement legislation, formal de-briefing should be provided in accordance with best practice. This approach should minimise the number of FoI enquiries.
When issuing quotation or tender documentation, it is recommended that a suitably worded clause is included in the documentation. This should require the supplier to advise, for example, which material provided in its submission is confidential or commercially sensitive and may not be disclosed in response to a request for information under the Act. Note: the supplier must give robust justifications for the information to be treated as confidential.
It is suggested that, as far as is practicable and without disclosing identified confidential or commercially sensitive information, as much detail as is reasonably possible should be included in each supplier's written notification of being unsuccessful in gaining part or all of a tender exercise. For example, consideration may be given to providing a list of the tenderers (in alphabetical order) and a list of submitted prices (in numerical order). Note, however, that this approach may not be appropriate where there is only two or three participants.
Procurement exercises falling within the remit of the EU Rules will, of course, have a contract award notice published in the OJEU.
Further information is available from the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Information Commissioner's Office web sites. Scotland has its own Freedom of Information Act implementation - further information is available for the Scottish Information Commission web site.
To view the Freedom of Information Act click here – England, Wales and Northern Ireland or Scotland
A number of articles and publications have been prepared looking where Procurement has withheld pricing information on the basis of
- commercial interests (August 2007) [pdf 22kb]
- confidentiality (July 2008) [pdf 33kb]
- the release of Procurement Information (2008) [pdf 91kb] published by the Information Commissioner, England, Wales and Northern Ireland
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