Climate Challenge Programme, Malawi proposal information: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/17/02137
Date received: 22 September 2017
Date responded: 16 October 2017

Information requested

You asked for "a copy of the successful proposal for the recent Scottish Government procurement for Development, Administration and Delivery of the Climate Challenge Programme Malawi".

Response

I enclose with this letter that portion of the information you requested which we are able to release. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 38(1)(b) (personal information) and 33(1)(b) (commercial interests) of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained below.

The information release comprises the following documents which were submitted by the successful tenderer (Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund). These documents have been compiled into the single document accompanying this letter.

Page number	Description
1 - 20	"Tender Summary" extracted from an electronic tender system (comprising the tenderer's ESPD form and a listing of the technical and commercial information submitted). Note 1
21 - 34	ESPD form submitted on behalf of the tenderer's proposed sub-contractor (Trocaire) - as referenced at page 6 of the Tender Summary. Note 1
35 - 103	The tenderer's Technical Proposal - as referenced at page 20 of the Tender Summary. Note 1&2
104 - 110	The tenderer's Commercial Proposal - as referenced at page 20 of the Tender Summary. Note 3
111 - 112	The tenderer's Form of Tender - as referenced at page 20 of the Tender Summary. Note 1
113 - 176	The document "Key Staff" - as referenced at page 20 of the Tender Summary. Note 1&3

Note 1: Personal information has been redacted from these documents. This includes 46 pages consisting solely of individual CVs which have been removed from the "Key Staff" document.

Note 2: Two supporting documents were embedded within footnotes (at pages 54 and 65) in the original version of this document but are not accessible from PDF. However, these documents are publicly available at the following web addresses.

Trocaire - Community Based Action Plan

Trocaire - Transformation with technology

Note 3: Detailed cost information (consisting of salaries, pay rates and other costings) has been redacted from these documents.

Due to the file size of the document released, copies can be provided on request by emailing ceu@gov.scot, quoting the FOI reference number FOI/17/02137

Reasons for not providing information

An exemption applies

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. the names, contact details and CVs of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

An exemption applies, subject to the public interest test An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of our contractor, Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund. Disclosing this information would be likely to give this organisation's competitors an advantage in future similar tendering exercises, which would substantially prejudice their ability to submit competitive tenders and so could significantly harm their commercial business.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of organisations which tender for Scottish Government contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

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