Courses Delivered and Value for Money

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

1) Total cost to Lincolnshire County Council for all courses funded and delivered by The Thrive Tribe (please provide figures for the most recent financial year, or the period for which data is available)

2) Breakdown of costs, including the cost per course or per participant, if available.

3) Expected outcomes or KPIs set for these courses as part of the funding agreement.

4) Measured outcomes to date, including completion rates, impact measures, or evaluation reports.

5) Any internal reports, assessments, or reviews carried out by LCC regarding the effectiveness or value for money of these courses.

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request (FOIA). Lincolnshire County Council (the Council/we) confirm that we hold information in scope of your request. We have provided a response to question 1. We have determined that the information related to questions 2 to 5 is exempt from disclosure. We have explained the reasons, below.

1. The total cost for the financial year 2024-25 is £253,736.10

Questions 2,3,4, & 5 – Commercially Sensitive Information

Section 43 FOIA – Commercial Interests

Section 43(2) of the FOIA states that information is exempt if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). Whilst we are the Controller of this information, we have considered how it would prejudice the providers commercial interests and our relationship with them. Where its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice, is referred to as the prejudice test. This considers what harm will occur if the information is disclosed.

Section 94(1)b of the Procurement Act  states, ‘a contracting authority is not required to publish or otherwise disclose information under this Act if the authority is satisfied that the information is sensitive commercial information and there is an overriding public interest in it being withheld from publication or other disclosure’. Section 94(2)b states ‘sensitive commercial information is that which would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person if it were published or otherwise disclosed’. We have likened it to S43(2) of the FOIA.

Prejudice Test

•            Disclosing the information would encourage all competing suppliers to make requests on the expectation it is disclosed.

•            Disclosing commercially sensitive information would distort procurement activity which is governed by its own legislation.

•            The authority would have difficulty procuring products and services at the best value for money because providers would not have trust in the process.

•            Allowing providers to see one another’s contractual information would undermine the procurement process and enable each to seek out an advantage over the other. This will put a provider at a disadvantage commercially because other providers would attempt to outweigh them in the tender process.

•            The authority would appear to promote an unfair procurement process which would not been seen favourably where it has helped providers to gain advantage.

Section 43(2) – public interest in favour of disclosing the information

We understand our requirement under the FOIA to be transparent which is why we routinely publish some information about our contracts. We consider this is sufficient to keep the public informed. Whilst we consider a requirement to be transparent, this cannot override our duty to protect commercially sensitive information.

Section 43(2) – public interest in favour of withholding the information

We consider the public would favour the authority which protects sensitive information and does not create a hostile procurement environment where information is freely shared. The public would not expect the authority to distort or apply unfairness to its procurement process and would favour the authority’s ability to procure a best value service for public money which itself is in the public interest.

Whilst we have considered the prejudice to the provider, we have also determined the effects of us disclosing the information. Providers would not trust the Council, we would not attract a significant selection of providers to allow us to assess value for money and we would upset the public who expect us to protect sensitive and confidential information.

We are satisfied that disclosure of the information requested would be prejudice to the commercial activity of the provider and the Council and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing it.