Revenues and Benefits - Freedom of information requests

Revenues and Benefits

15321

14/06/2021

FOI

I am researching the usage of software for the processing of Revenues and Benefits across UK councils, and would therefore appreciate a response under the Freedom of Information Act to the following:1. What Revenues and Benefits IT system does the council use?
2. Is the system hosted on premise, or in the cloud?
3. If on premise, does the council intend to move the Revenues and Benefits system to the cloud in the next 3 years?
4. Is the council in a shared service scheme for Revenues and Benefits? If so with which other council(s)?
5. What is the annual software charge payable to the current Revenues and Benefits system provider with regard to:
6. License fees
7. Support fees
8. Hosting fees
9. When did the current contract commence?
10. When will the current contract expire?
11. Will the council re-tender for the Revenues and Benefits system when the contract expires, or in the case of an annual rolling contract, in the next 2 years?
12. Who is responsible for Revenues and Benefits (please provide Name and Job Title)?
13. How many council staff use the system on a daily basis?

1. The Council is unable to release this information into the public domain. Section 35 (1) (a) exempts information if its disclosure is likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
Section 35 is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public interest in releasing the information must be considered. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it then the exemption does not apply and the information must be released. In FOISA there is a presumption that information should be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.
The public interest has now concluded and the balance of the public interest has found in favour of withholding information covered by the section 35(1) (a) exemption. Considerations in favour of the releasing the information included consideration of public interest in transparency and accountability and disclosure of information about Scottish Borders Council procedures and commercial outsourcing contracts.
However, release of this information would make Scottish Borders Council more vulnerable to crime; namely, a malicious attack on Scottish Borders Council computer systems. As such release of this information would be seen to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime, by making Scottish Borders Council computer systems more vulnerable to hacking, therefore facilitating the possibility of a criminal offence being carried out. There is an overwhelming public interest in keeping Scottish Borders Council computer systems secure which would be served by non-disclosure. This would outweigh any benefits of information release. It has therefore been decided that the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding the information on this occasion. Please note that this decision does not imply that you intend to engage in any criminal or malicious activities. However as the Freedom of Information Scotland Act is an open access regime, this exemption has been applied to protect Scottish Borders Council systems.

2. On premise.

3. This information is not held and therefore we give notice under Section 17 (1) (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2002.

4. No

5-8. The Council has considered this part of your request for information and concluded that the exemption s33(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 applies. Providing that "information is exempt if … its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person (including, without prejudice to that generality, a Scottish public authority)."
The Council is of the view that releasing the requested information would not substantially prejudice the commercial interests of the authority. However, the legislation provides that the release of the relevant information is exempt if it would substantially prejudice the commercial interests of any person. In this case, consideration was given to the way in which the release of this information into the public domain could impact the supplier. Releasing such commercial information may impact the supplier's ability to make a profit when dealing with similar entities to the Scottish Borders Council or tendering for future business.

9. 01/04/2019

10. 31/03/2024

11. We do not record this information and therefore we give notice under Section 17 (1) (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2002.

12. Service Director – Customer and Communities

13. We do not record this information and therefore we give notice under Section 17 (1) (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2002.