Details of the £2.9 million Government investment into Capita's contract remain undisclosed
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service
Crime Directorate
2nd Floor (2.25)
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
T 020 3334 4057
E alex.lark@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk
www.justice.gov.uk
Yelena McCafferty
Our Ref: FOI - 84472 27th August 2013
Freedom of Information Request
Dear Yelena McCafferty
Thank you for your email of 30 July 2013, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):
“Further to your responses to my FOI Requests 83669 and 84033, please provide the mathematical formula, statistical analysis and calculations used to achieve the figure of 2.9 million pounds for the running period of 1st May 2013 to 30th April 2014.
Please let me have the information requested above in the electronic form.”
Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
I can confirm that the department holds information that you have asked for, but in this case we will not be providing it to you as it is exempt from disclosure.
We are not obliged to provide information that has been provided in confidence to the department (section 41 (1) of the Act) or information relating to commercial interests. In this case, we believe that the information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person including the department who holds it (section 43(2) of the Act).
In line with the terms of the Section 43 exemption in the Freedom of Information Act, we have also considered whether it would be in the public interest for us to provide you with the information, despite the exemption being applicable. In this case, we have concluded that the public interest favours withholding the information.
You can find out more about Section 41 and 43 by reading the extract from the Act and some guidance points we consider when applying this exemption, attached at the end of this letter.
You can also find more information by reading the full text of the FOIA, available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/contents and further guidance http://www.justice.gov.uk/information-access-rights/foi-guidance-for-practitioners/exemptions-guidance
When assessing whether or not it was in the public interest to disclose the information to you, we took into account the following factors:
Public interest considerations favouring disclosure
There is a general public interest in the disclosure of this information to ensure that there is transparency in, and accountability for, the management of public funds; that public money is being used effectively and that the Department is providing maximum value for the taxpayer.
Immediate publication serves the public interest by providing up to the minute information.
Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information
We, as the Ministry of Justice, have a responsibility to any suppliers to hold confidential any commercial information provided to us in the course of contracting for this service
The release of some of the information held to calculate this figure may prejudice the commercial activities of the supplier should this information be available to their competitors
All or part of the information used to calculate this figure were provided to MoJ in confidence.
We reached the view that, on balance, the public interest is better served by withholding this information under Section 43(2) of the Act at this time.
You have the right to appeal our decision if you think it is incorrect. Details can be found in the ‘How to Appeal’ section attached at the end of this letter.
Disclosure Log
You can also view information that the Ministry of Justice has disclosed in response to previous Freedom of Information requests. Responses are anonymised and published on our on-line disclosure log which can be found on the MoJ website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/information-access-rights/foi-requests/latest-moj-disclosure-log
The published information is categorised by subject area and in alphabetical order.
Yours sincerely
Alex Lark
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service
