Prohibiting smoking outside hospital buildings - successful tender: FOI release

Information requested

In relation to “Analysis of consultation responses to the paper: Prohibiting smoking outside hospital buildings” would it be possible to see what a successful tender bid looks like? 

Response

I enclose a copy of the information you have requested. Please note that some of the information enclosed has been redacted. The reasons why some information has been redacted are explained in the Annex to this letter.

Annex - 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 the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. 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, EKOS. 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 in some cases. 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, for some information 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.

About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI/202000018347 - EKOS Technical Proposal - February 2020

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41 page PDF

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