Request
The information I require relates to the organisation’s software contract, please send me the organisation’s primary contract around the types of contracts below.
I require the organisations to provide me with the following contract information relating to the following corporate software/enterprise applications:
A. Enterprise Resource Planning Software Solution (ERP) – this is the organisation’s main ERP system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades.
B. Primary Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solution-this is the organisation’s main CRM system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of CRM systems the organisation may use could include Microsoft Dynamics, Front Office, Lagan CRM, Firm step
C. Primary Human Resources (HR) and Payroll Software Solution-this is the organisation’s main HR/payroll system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. In some cases, the HR contract maybe separate to the payroll contract please provide both types of contracts. Example of HR/Payroll systems the organisation may use could include iTrent, Resource link.
D. The organisation’s primary corporate Finance Software Solution-this is the organisation’s main Finance system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of finance systems the organisation may use could include E-Business suite, Agresso (Unit4), eFinancials, Integra, SAP
In some cases you may come across contracts that provides service support maintenance and upgrades separate to the main software contract, please also provide this information in the response following the requested data below.
For each of the categories above can you please provide me with the relevant contract information listed below:
1. Software Category: ERP, CRM, HR, Payroll, Finance
2. Name of Supplier: Can you please provide me with the software provider for each contract?
3. The date in which these applications were implemented
4. The brand of the software: Can you please provide me with the actual name of the software. Please do not provide me with the supplier’s name again please provide me with the actual software name.
5. Description of the contract: Please do not just state two to three words can you please provide me with detailed information about this contract and please state if upgrade, maintenance and support is included.
Please also include any modules included within the contract as this will support the categories you have selected in question 1.
6. Number of Users/Licenses: What is the total number of user/licenses for this contract?
7. Annual Spend: What is the annual average spend for each contract?
8. Contract Duration: What is the duration of the contract please include any available extensions within the contract.
9. Contract Start Date: What is the start date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.
10. Contract Expiry: What is the expiry date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.
11. Contract Review Date: What is the review date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. If this cannot be provided, please provide me estimates of when the contract is likely to be reviewed. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.
12. Contact Details: I require the full contact details of the person within the organisation responsible for this particular software contract (name, job title, email, contact number).
If any of the information is not available, please can you provide me with the notes on the reasons why?
Outcome
Some Information provided
Response
Most of the information you have requested is exempt from publication because it would, or likely would, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime and is exempt under section 31 (1) (a) of the FOI Act or it is already in the public domain and is, therefore, exempt at section 21 of the FOI Act.
In relation to all questions requesting information on software vendors, software brands and exact contract start and end dates we have applied section 31(1) (a), which exempts information if its disclosure under this Act would or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
This exemption has been applied to details of which vendors, software brands and applications TNA uses, and specific contract start and end dates. For this exemption to be engaged it is necessary to prove that disclosure would, or would be likely to, involve a level of harm. The harm/prejudice test for this exemption involves the consideration that release could put at risk law-enforcement matters, namely the prevention or detection of crime.
We have determined that release of the aforementioned information would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime by making The National Archives’ computer systems more vulnerable to hacking.
In relation to the questions requesting information on existing contracts including descriptions, annual spend, implementation date and duration, we have applied section 21 of the FOI Act as the information is already in the public domain.
The exemption has been applied as details of contracts we have awarded are published on Contracts Finder and as such Information regarding our contracts valued over £10,000 plus VAT is exempt under section 21 of the FOI Act as it is already in the public domain. To assist you in locating this information, please review the links below:
Tenders and contracts – The National Archives
Contracts Finder – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Information on any live contract valued under £10,000 plus VAT would expose commercially sensitive information, and as such is exempt under section 43 (2) of the FOI Act.
The remainder of your questions are answered below.
5. Number of Users/Licenses: What is the total number of user/licenses for this contract?
Solution and Users/Licences
ERP – 575
Primary Customer Relationship Management Solution (CRM) – 150
Primary Human Resources (HR) Solution – 10
Primary Payroll Solution – n/a
Primary Finance Solution – see ERP
10. Contract Review Date: What is the review date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. If this cannot be provide please provide me estimates of when the contract is likely to be reviewed. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.
We do not hold information relating to this question.
11. Contact Details: I require the full contact details of the person within the organisation responsible for this particular software contract (name, job title, email, contact number).
We are unable to provide you with this information because it would identify junior members of staff and as such is exempt from release under section 40 (2) of the FOI Act. However, at The National Archives we apply the general principle that members of staff at Head of Department level and above are sufficiently senior for their names and/or job titles to already be in the public domain and are therefore not exempt from release.
The Head of IT Operations at The National Archives is David Moore.
The Head of People, Inclusion and Change is Hannah Lee.
The Head of Finance is Marie Twomey-McLeod.
The National Archives’ full staff information can be found on our website here: Our staff – The National Archives
Exemptions Applied
Section 21: Information readily available to the applicant by other means
Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) does not oblige a public authority to provide information if it is already reasonably accessible by other means. In this case the exemption applies because the information is already available.
Further guidance can be found at: Information accessible to the applicant by other means (section 21) | ICO
Section 31: Law Enforcement
We are unable to provide you with information regarding software vendors, brands and specific start/end dates because this information is exempt from disclosure under section 31(1) (a) of the FOI Act. Section 31(1) (a) exempts information if its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
Section 31 is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public interest in releasing the information must be considered. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it then the exemption does not apply and the information must be released. In the FOI Act there is a presumption that information should be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.
The public interest has now been concluded and the balance of the public interest has been found to fall in favour of withholding information covered by the section 31(1)(a) exemption. Considerations in favour of the release of the information included the principle that there is a public interest in transparency and accountability in disclosing information about government cyber security. However, release of this information would make The National Archives more vulnerable to crime. The crime in question here would be a malicious attack on The National Archives’ computer systems. As such release of this information would be seen to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime by making The National Archives’ computer system more vulnerable to hacking. There is an overwhelming public interest in keeping government computer systems secure which would be served by non-disclosure. This would outweigh any benefits of release. It has therefore been decided that the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding the material on this occasion.
Further guidance on section 31 can be found here: Law enforcement – section 31 | ICO
Section 40 (2): Personal Information where the applicant is not the data subject
Data Protection Legislation prevents personal information from release if it is unfair or at odds with the reason it was collected, or where the subject had officially served notice that releasing it would cause them damage or distress.
In this case the exemption applies because this information represents the personal information of a junior member of staff at The National Archives.
Publishing the names and contact details of junior members of staff is considered an unfair use of personal data. Junior members of staff would have no expectation that information about their positions would be made available in the public domain; to do so would be unfair and contravene Art. 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation. As such, the names, positions and contact details of junior officials are withheld under section 40 (2) of the FOI Act.
Further guidance can be found at: Requests for personal data about public authority employees (ico.org.uk)
Section 43 (2) – Commercial Interests
This section exempts information whose disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person. In this case, the exemption applies because it would be likely to harm or prejudice the commercial interests of our current and potential future suppliers.
Section 43 (2) is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public interest in releasing the information must be considered. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it then the exemption does not apply and must be released. In the FOIA there is a presumption that information should be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.
Considerations in favour of the release of the information included The National Archives’ commitment to openness and transparency in its commercial activities, to allow public scrutiny and to demonstrate that public funds are being used in an efficient and effective way. Furthermore, private sector companies engaging in commercial activities with the public sector must expect some information about those activities to be disclosed.
Considerations against disclosure included the recognition that disclosure is likely to provide information to direct competitors within the market that would create an imbalance and a commercial advantage to those competitors. Furthermore, disclosure of this information is also likely to affect The National Archives’ ability to negotiate contracts in the future and consequently generate revenue from non-public funds. It is also considered that disclosure would be likely to deter potential bidders for future contracts from competing and sharing commercially sensitive information with us. This would outweigh any benefits of release. It was therefore decided that the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding the material on this occasion
Further guidance can be found at: Section 43 – Commercial interests | ICO