FOI release

FOI 003 - Information about Telecoms and IT infrastructure

Updated 27 October 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/insolvency-service-foi-responses-april-to-june-2021/foi-003-information-about-telecoms-and-it-infrastructure

Our ref: FOI21/22-003

Date: 6 May 2021

Dear

Re: Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your email of 7 April in which you requested from the Insolvency Service:

“I am writing to you to request some information about your Telecoms and IT infrastructure. I politely request information on your current provider for the following:

  1. Current mobile provider

  2. No. of mobile connections

  3. What MDM/UEM solution do you use

  4. Is this part of your mobile contract or separate?

  5. Contract end dates for both

  6. When will you start to look at reviewing the contract?

  7. Current expenditure on these contracts

  8. Key decision makers”

Your request has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

I can confirm the agency holds the information that you have requested, and I have provided most of it below. Some of the information is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as it is reasonable accessible to you from the links provided below. Some of the information is also exempt under sections 40 (2) and 43 (2) of the Act.

  1. Current mobile provider – EE – Please see Contracts Finder Notices – Mobiles - Resigns PS Plus 4GB and New Connections - Contracts Finder & Mobiles - Resigns and New Connections - Contracts Finder

  2. No. of mobile connections - 2140

  3. What MDM/UEM solution do you use - inTune

  4. Is this part of your mobile contract or separate? Separate

  5. Contract end dates for both - No contract end date for inTune. Please see Contracts Finder Notices – Mobiles - Resigns PS Plus 4GB and New Connections - Contracts Finder & Mobiles - Resigns and New Connections - Contracts Finder

  6. When will you start to look at reviewing the contract? – Mobile Contract is currently under review.

  7. Current expenditure on these contracts – This information is withheld under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act as its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).

In this case, disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Insolvency Service. This is because disclosure of the information would give tendering supplies an unfair advantage over the Insolvency Service in pricing their tender submission quotes.

The factors I have considered in undertaking the public interest test are as below:

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

• Promoting accountability and transparency about decisions relating to the use of public money within the Insolvency Service.

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information

• Disclosure of this will prejudice the information of the Insolvency Service because the Service is going out to tender and disclosure can interfere with the value and pricing of the contract.

• Publication of expenditure would potentially affect the price quoted during the tender process, as tendering companies may seek to closely the current value and wouldn’t offer best prices for value.

On balance, I consider the public interest favours withholding the information at this time.

Please see Contracts Finder Notices – Mobiles - Resigns PS Plus 4GB and New Connections - Contracts Finder & Mobiles - Resigns and New Connections - Contracts Finder

  1. Key decision makers – I can confirm the agency holds the information that you have requested however, it is exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) of the FOIA, because it constitutes personal data. Personal data can only be released if to do so would not contravene any of the data protection principles set out in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018. The release of the requested personal information in this instance would be unlawful, and not be in keeping with data protection principles outlined above. This is an absolute exemption and does not require a public interest test.

If you are not satisfied with the response we have provided you and would like us to reconsider our decision by way of an internal review (IR), please contact our Information Rights Team at [email protected] or by post at:

Information Rights Team
The Insolvency Service
3rd Floor
Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6FD
United Kingdom

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) if you wish for them to investigate any complaint you may have regarding our handling of your request. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect an IR to have been completed in the first instance.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Team The Insolvency Service

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Official receivers and the Adjudicator are Data Controllers in respect of personal data processed by the Insolvency Service. For the details about how personal data is processed by the agency, please see the full Insolvency Service Personal Information Charter here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service/about/personal-information-charter

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