Request for information - Ref No: FOI221118
Request
Thank you for your email of 24 November 2022, requesting information from Ordnance Survey in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, as set out in the extract below:
“I wish to submit to the organisation a freedom of information request relating to the organisation’s ICT contracts, specifically around:
- contact centre contract(s)
- inbound network services contract(s)
The first part of my request relates to contact centre service contracts which could relate to one of the following:
Advanced call distribution to control the flow of calls and maximise customer experience
- Email, website live chat and integrations with popular social media apps like Facebook and Instagram
- Performance monitoring tools to track performance, customer satisfaction and other key sales metrics
This could be part of a whole package or separate service applications.
Please send me the following information for each provider:
- Incumbent Supplier: For each of the contract(s) please can you provide me with the supplier of the contract.
- Annual Average Spend: For each supplier, please state the annual average (over 3 years) spend for each supplier
- Contract Duration: For each supplier, please state the contract duration of the contract expires. If available please also include any contract extensions.
- Contract Expiry: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract expires.
- Contract Review: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract will be reviewed.
- Contract Description: For each supplier, please state a brief description of the services provided of the overall contract.
- Contact Details: For each supplier, please state the person from within the organisation responsible for the contract. Please provide me with their full name, actual job title, contact number and direct email address. At the very least please provide me with their actual job title.
- Number of Agents; please provide me with the total number of contact centre agents;
- Number of Sites; please can you provide me with the number of sites the contact centre covers.
- Manufacturer of the contact centre: Who is the manufacturer of the contact centre system that you operate?
- Do you use Microsoft Exchange 2003 as your email server? If not, then which products do you use?
- Number of email users: Approximate number of email users across the organisations.
The second part of my request relates to the use inbound network services contracts which could relate to one of the following:
- 0800, 0845, 0870, 0844, 0300 number
- Routing of calls
- Caller Identifier
- Caller Profile- linking caller details with caller records
- Interactive voice response (IVR)
For a contract relating to the above please can you provide me with:
- Incumbent Supplier: For each of the contract(s) please can you provide me with the supplier of the contract.
- Annual Average Spend: For each supplier, please state the annual average (over 3 years) spend for each supplier
- Contract Expiry: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract expires.
- Contract Review: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract will be reviewed.
- Contract Description: For each supplier, please state a brief description of the services provided of the overall contract.
- Contact Details: For each supplier, please state the person from within the organisation responsible for the contract. Please provide me with their full name, actual job title, contact number and direct email address.
Please can you acknowledge my request so that I know that the request is being dealt with. If you have any questions or queries in relation to this request, please send me an email and I will respond accordingly.
Also, I would appreciate it if the contract information was included within a spreadsheet.”
Our response
I confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold some of the information you have requested.
A copy of the information, which can be disclosed, is contained in the spreadsheet (xlxs) in the format you requested.
You submitted the same request on 1 March 2022 (FOI-22-1070), the only information which has changed is shown in red in the spreadsheet. Please ensure a reasonable interval has elapsed before submitting the same or substantially similar requests to avoid these being refused as repeated requests under section 14(2) of the FOIA.
Where the information is not held or exempt from disclosure this is stated in the spreadsheet and the exemptions are explained in further detail below:
Exempt information under section 43(2) (Prejudice to commercial interests)
The contract referred to at part 2 of your request is not on OS standard terms and conditions or the CCS Framework. After consultation with the third party, we consider the spend, contract expiry and review dates, and contract description to be exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) (Prejudice to commercial interests) of the FOIA 2000, as explained further below:
We consider disclosure of the above information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of OS and of the third party. This information would prove advantageous for competitors when bidding on future opportunities and would impair the third party’s ability to compete successfully and could harm both parties ability to negotiate in future procurement exercises. Companies may lose confidence in OS, compromising OS’ integrity and causing a detrimental impact on the reputation of OS.
Section 43 (2) is a qualified exemption, and we are required to consider the public interest.
Public Interest Test
OS recognises the need for transparency; however, this must be balanced against the public interest in allowing OS and third parties to protect their commercial information, and not be placed at a disadvantage in the competitive marketplace in which we operate. Section 43(2) is a prejudice-based exemption, and there is a public interest inherent in avoiding the harm specified. In this case, OS considers that the prejudice would be likely to occur. Having considered the above, we are satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
Exempt information under section 40(2) (personal information)
The information you requested relating to the full name, contact number and direct email address for the person responsible for the contract is exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) (personal information) of the FOI Act, as the information constitutes personal data.
Section 40(2) provides that personal data is exempt information if one of the conditions set out in section 40(3) is satisfied. In our view, disclosure of this information would breach the data protection principles contained in the General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Act 2018
In reaching this decision, we have particularly considered:
- the reasonable expectations of the employees: given their positions, Ordnance Survey considered that none of the individuals would have a reasonable expectation that their personal data would be disclosed;
- the consequences of disclosure; and
- any legitimate public interest in disclosure.
Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to the public interest test.
However, under the duty to provide information and assistance in accordance with section 16 of FOIA, we can provide the following information which may assist you in this matter.
You can find out information in relation to our procurement process on our website in our procurement pages, where there is also a ‘contact us’ form. Alternatively, you can contact us by telephone via our Customer Service centre on 03456 05 05 05
Internal review
Your enquiry has been processed according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. If you are unhappy with our response, you may request an internal review with our Internal Review Officer by contacting them, within 40 working days of receipt of our final response to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, as follows:
Internal Review Officer
Customer Service Centre
Ordnance Survey
Adanac Drive
Southampton
SO16 0AS
Please include the reference number above. You may request an internal review where you believe Ordnance Survey has:
- Failed to respond to your request within the time limits (normally 20 working days)
- Failed to tell you whether or not we hold the information
- Failed to provide the information you have requested
- Failed to explain the reasons for refusing a request
- Failed to correctly apply an exemption or exception
The Internal Review Officer will not have been involved in the original decision. They will conduct an independent internal review and will inform you of the outcome of the review normally within 20 working days, but exceptionally within 40 working days, in line with the Information Commissioner’s guidance.
The Internal Review Officer will either: uphold the original decision, provide an additional explanation of the exemption/s applied or release further information, if it is considered appropriate to do so.
Appeal to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
If, following the outcome of the internal review you remain unhappy with our response, you may raise an appeal, within three months of receiving our response, with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Further information can be found on the ICO website (ico.org.uk) under ‘Report a concern’ or you may wish to call the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113.