Outcome
Successful
Request & response
I want to apologise in advance for the length of this request, the first part is just an outline of the request bellow (A-D) I have added this for clarification so you know exactly what I am referring to. Can you please read all the information within the request this is an urgent request so if you could please provide me with the information before the 20 working days this will be greatly appreciated.
The information I require relates to the organisations software contract, please send me the organisation’s primary contract around the types of contract below.
I require the organisation’s 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, Firmstep
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, Resourcelink.
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
This is not deemed a question and has, therefore, been left blank
2. Name of Supplier: Can you please provide me with the software provider for each contract?
Disclosing software providers will reveal the software brands and information regarding software brands is exempt under section 31 (1) (a) of the FOI Act.
3. 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 name again please provide me with the actual software name.
Information regarding software brands is exempt under section 31 (1) (a) of the FOI Act.
4. 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.
| Software Category | Contract Description |
| HR | Licenses and Support; telephone response centre, upgrades, remote access, developed software |
| Finance | Annual Support and Maintenance. Maintenance and upgrade support; Telephone helpdesk service, error correction service, update service. |
5. Number of Users/Licenses: What is the total number of user/licenses for this contract?
| Software Category | No. of Licences/Users |
| HR | 650 |
| Finance | Licenses for main system and modules, total of 150 |
6. Annual Spend: What is the annual average spend for each contract?
For contracts under £10,000, this information is covered by the exemption at section 43 (2) of the FOI Act.
Information about all contracts with a value over £10,000 are published in the public domain, and can be found at https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/.
7. Contract Duration: What is the duration of the contract please include any available extensions within the contract.
| Software Category | Contract Duration |
| HR | Original 3 years with 3 Year Extension |
| Finance | 1 Year |
8. 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.
| Software Category | Contract Start Dates |
| HR | Qtr 1 2015-16 |
| Finance | Qtr 3 2019-20 |
Information regarding specific start dates is exempt under section 31 (1) (a) of the FOI Act.
9. Contract Expiry: What is the expiry date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.
| Software Category | Contract End Dates |
| HR | Qtr 4 2020-21 |
| Finance | Qtr 2 2020-21 |
Information regarding specific end dates is exempt under section 31 (1) (a) of the FOI Act.
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 this information
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 a junior member 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 Julian Muller.
The Head of HR at The National Archives is Jane Craigie-Payne.
The Head of Finance is Pauline Moore.
The National Archives’ full contact options can be found on our website here: http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/contact/
EXPLANATORY ANNEX
Exemptions applied
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 release. 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 40(2): Personal Information where the applicant is not the data subject
Data Protection Legislation prevents personal information from release if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason why 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:
Section 31: Law Enforcement
We are unable to provide you with information regarding software brands and specific contract 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 is 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 procedure and contracts. 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:
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1207/law-enforcement-foi-section-31.pdf