Dear. Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

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1 UNCLASSIFIED Streetscene and Greenspace Martin Yardley Executive Director Floor 12, Civic Centre 4 Much Park Street Coventry CV1 2PY Please contact Bernie Robinson bernie.robinson@coventry.gov.uk Our reference 3 rd June 2015 Dear Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) Thank you for your FOI request, received 10 April 2015 in connection with property guardians. Your request has been considered under the above legislation. You have requested the following information: I want to know whether the Council has entered into arrangements with security companies who offer property guardians as part of their service, in order to secure and maintain properties (either residential or otherwise) owned or managed by the Council or Council bodies (eg housing ALMOs). 1. Does or has the council had any contract or other arrangement with security companies that offer property guardians, such as, but not restricted to, Vacant Property Solutions, AdHoc Property Management and Camelot Vacant Property Management? If there have been multiple contracts, please give the names of each separate company employed, broken down annually, from 2009 onwards. 2. If so, how much has the council spent on security companies that offer property guardians? Please also break this down annually since the council began employing such companies. 3. How many properties have been given over to security companies offering property guardians as part of their service? Please also break this down annually, and by type of property if known (eg house, flat, office). 4. What was the most recent application process and was there a tendering/bidding process? 5. Were there multiple bidders for the contract, and if so, who? 6. Please provide copies of any and all contracts between the Council and its affiliates and guardian-providing property management companies such as, but not restricted

2 3rd June 2015 to, Vacant Property Services, AdHoc Property Management and Camelot Vacant Property Management. We attach a copy of the information you have requested. However you will note from the provided information that some sections of the information are being withheld on the basis that the Council considers the exemption available under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is applicable to the withheld information. Section 43 provides that information is exempt from disclosure if the disclosure under the Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person, including the Council, subject to the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighing the public interest in disclosing the information. Commercial interests refer specifically to the Council s ability to buy or sell goods or services, and may be adversely affected by damage to business reputation, damage to customer/ supplier/investor confidence, negative impact on revenue, threats to the ability to obtain supplies or finance, or by revelation of market sensitive data in a competitive environment. The Council is of the view that the exemption available under section 43 of the Act is engaged because the disclosure of the withheld information into the public domain would allow competitors to analyse the Council s commercial model and undercut them when bidding on similar business in the future and thereby prejudice their commercial interests. The factors favouring disclosure of this information are: There is general public interest in the accountability for use of public funds There is general public interest in proper scrutiny of government actions in carrying out procurement exercises in accordance with published policy The factors in favour of maintaining the exemption are: There is strong public interest in preventing specific harm to the competitive interests of the Council in a commercially competitive environment There is general public interest in ensuring that Council feels able to engage in commerce without the risk of commercial data being compromised to the detriment of their legitimate commercial interests. There is an inherent public interest in protecting the commercial interests of the Council which plays an important role in growth of the local economy. The factors in favour of disclosure are outweighed by those in favour of maintaining the exemption. The Council regularly discloses a lot of information, through its Internet pages and in particular its FOI/EIR Disclosure log, Council's Publication Scheme and Open Data pages. Alternatively, for a wider range of information about the Coventry area and to see what other organizations are doing, have a look at the Facts about Coventry website. 2

3 3rd June 2015 If you have any other issues relating to this request please do not hesitate to contact me. Should you be unhappy with the outcome or handling of your request, please write to the address below within 40 working days of the date of this letter. Information Governance Team Council House, Room 21a Lower Ground Floor Earl Street, Coventry. CV1 5RR If having done this you are still dissatisfied, you have the right to contact the Information Commissioner at: Information Commissioner s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF Yours sincerely Bernie Robinson Business Support Officer Enclosure: FOI Redacted 3

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