Freedom of Outsourced Information.

[Hairyloon]

A public body outsources certain tasks to an outside body. It receives an FOI request in respect of the cost of some of those tasks. Their response is to say that they don't hold that information because the work is outsourced: is that a valid reason to not answer the question?

[dls]

It depends on the exact question.

The question might be as to how much the LA pays for the service.
It might be as to the cost to the outsourcing company of the work it does.

The first is a question which should be answered subject to commercial information protection.
The second may be information not in their possession.

FOI is in part about answering questions which can be answered easily.

[diy]

Seems like a simple dodge for the LA if this is true. I'd find it hard not to see the outsourcer as an agent of the LA carrying out work on behalf of the LA.

[atticus]

I doubt that ability to avoid answering FOI questions figures in local authority outsourcing decisions.

If the LA has agreed to outsource a range of tasks for a global sum, then how is it to know the cost of the provision of one of those tasks?

[Hairyloon]

If the LA has agreed to outsource a range of tasks for a global sum, then how is it to know the cost of the provision of one of those tasks?

It could ask the contractor.

[Smouldering Stoat]

If it has to ask the contractor, then it follows that it doesn't hold the information.

[b1969]

Nb that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to information "held" by a relevant public authority, but "held by a public authority" can also mean, by section 3(2)(b) "held by another person on behalf of the authority". The Information Commissioner's Office guidance explains that

where information is held by a third party as a result of contractual arrangement, the provisions of the contract may indicate whether or not the information is held on behalf of the public authority

And the Upper Tribunal held, in University of Newcastle v IC and BUAV [2011] UKUT 185 (AAC), [2011], that

whether information is held on behalf of a public authority is “simply a question of fact”. In some cases it will be important to determine the exact nature of the legal relationship between a person holding information and the public authority, or to determine the legal structure pursuant to which information was created and held

So let's just say, it depends.

[diy]

I doubt that ability to avoid answering FOI questions figures in local authority outsourcing decisions.

If the LA has agreed to outsource a range of tasks for a global sum, then how is it to know the cost of the provision of one of those tasks?

they would flow down their statutory obligations to the supplier in their Ts and cs. pretty standard stuff, that your avg corporate lawyers junior assistant would draft.

[atticus]

If that is how the outsourcing contract is structured. But if it is not ... see earlier posts.