Dear Mr Thwaites

Dear Mr Thwaites,

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) on 21 June 2010. We apologise for the delay in responding to you. Please note that the LGA is not covered by the provisions of the Act, but we always try to deal with such requests within the spirit of the legislation.

We are replying in response to the three requests for information made in your email:

(1) We can advise that your request has been actively considered, but unfortunately we are unable to release the requested information to you (the contract between the LGA and Liberata Limited). The decision not to release the contract was taken with reference to the section 43 (commercial interests) exemption under the FOIA. We consider that to release the detailed contract would damage the commercial interests of both the LGA and Liberata.

You will appreciate that in the current difficult financial climate, the market for outsourcing “back office” activities is highly competitive and disclosure of detailed contract terms could adversely affect Liberata’s ability to compete with others in that market. Disclosure of the detailed contract could also affect Liberata’s relationship with its other existing customers and suppliers. We also consider that the detailed pricing structure and Liberata’s operational model contained in the agreement is commercially sensitive and should not be disclosed as this potentially reveals profit margins in a range of areas and would adversely affect Liberata’s ability to compete in a highly competitive price-sensitive environment.

Release of the entire contract could also prejudicially affect the LGA’s negotiating position with other suppliers and reveal confidential information about our operations.

Section 43 is a "qualified exemption" which means that we have to consider the public interest test before finally deciding whether the information should be released. In this case we consider that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. In coming to our decision we have also taken into account the fact that there is other information (such as the price, length of contract etc) that has already been disclosed publicly and we attach that for your information:

(i) OJEU notice (attached) (ii) Contract award notice (attached) (iii) Three LGA press releases/website announcements:

1st May 2008 - http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=515558

April 2008 - http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=492761

9th July 2010 - http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=12384946

We believe that the documents in the public domain clearly demonstrate that the LGA has obtained value for money with this contract and that to disclose the full detail of the contract terms would not provide any greater understanding of that position. We consider that to disclose the contract would have a significant adverse impact on Liberata’s ability to compete fairly and that the public interest is not served in disclosing it.

It should be noted that even if we had consented to disclosure of the requested information, we would draw your attention to the fact that the copyright in the contract being requested by you is vested in the LGA and Liberata. We believe that The Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 would prevent the use of the information if it was disclosed to you. We would not licence its use to you or other third parties. Consequently even if the information was disclosed to you, you would not be permitted to publish or reuse it.

(2) I regret that we are unable to accommodate your request for copies of all the bids to tender in this situation for the reasons set out in (1) above – section 43 (commercial interests) exemption. This is a highly competitive market, especially at this current point in time so to reveal company’s detailed pricing structures, staffing levels, performance indicators and operational service models would adversely affect their ability to compete. For the reasons set out above we believe that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

(3) We can provide the following information with regard to Liberata’s sponsorship of the LGA for the period 2005 to 2010:

 3 year term of sponsorship for the Annual Conference at £40,000 per annum from 2008-2010 inclusive (i.e. total of £120,000 over three years)  Local Government Challenge in 2009/10 - £27,000 + VAT (£31,050) from Liberata