public transport ticket system

Summary

The request sought details on costs for the public transport ticket system, and while the authority confirmed a £400,000 capital sum was spent on the Ticketer system in 2013-14, further specific costings were withheld.

Key Facts

• The Ticketer system was purchased in the 2013-14 financial year.
• A capital sum of £400,000 was allocated for ticket machine replacement and the smart card project.
• Disclosure of further details would breach the contract between Transport Services and Ticketer.
• The authority applied a public interest test but decided commercial interests outweighed the public interest in disclosure.
• The request was partially exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

Data Disclosed

• £400,000
• 2013-14
• 2017-09-05
• 2017-09-27
• G16-044 12
• Section 30(2)(b)
• Section 26(b)
• clause 17

Exemptions Cited

• Section 30(2)(b) - Prejudice to commercial interests
• Section 26(b) - Breach of confidence

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

FOI Reference No: IM101688i Request Under The Freedom Of Information Act 2015 (“The Act”)

Thank you for your request dated 5 September 2017. You asked for the following information (sic):

Response to your request

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested; the reasons and statutory exemption sections are shown below.

We can confirm that the capital sum of £400,000 listed under Scheme Code G16-044 12 in the Treasury’s Budget Report and Estimates for 2013-14 was spent on ticket machine replacement and the smart card project, and that this was the year in which the Ticketer system was purchased. A copy of this information is attached as Appendix 1.

We are unable to provide any further information to you, however, as disclosure would leave Transport Services in breach of contract with Ticketer. It would also prejudice the commercial interests of Ticketer and Transport Services’ future negotiations regarding equivalent services in future.

Contact: Telephone: Email: foi.doi@gov.im Date: 27 September 2017
All direct and indirect costs incurred from the sourcing installation fitting and upgrades to the ticketer system used for fairs on public transport Under Section 30(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015, information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the financial interests of a person (including the public authority holding it). (Usually relating to the commercial trading activity they undertake e.g. ongoing sale or purchase of goods and services for the purposes of revenue generation, within a competitive environment).

Transport Services purchased the Ticketer product on the basis that it offered the best value for revenue generation on the Island’s public transport network. Ticketer offers bespoke products and the costing of each package is negotiated. As such, the details and costings of the package purchased by Transport Services are commercially sensitive. The commercial interests of Ticketer would be affected by disclosure, if figures for purchase were found to be substantially lower than those levied to other Ticketer customers. The commercial interests of Transport Services would also be affected, if figures for purchase of the product were found to be substantially more than prospective competitors would have asked Transport Services to pay in the future. Transport Services would be in breach of contract with Ticketer if the cost of purchase and maintenance was revealed. There would be damage to the reputation of both Ticketer and Transport Services if this information was revealed, and business confidence would be reduced for both Ticketer and Transport Services.

Section 30(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act is a qualified exemption and therefore subject to a Public Interest test. In assessing where the public interest lies, the following factors have been considered.

In favour of disclosure:

 Likely to improve public confidence in the degree to which Transport Services has purchased a ticketing system that is value for money.  Likely to improve the degree to which business can respond to Public Sector opportunities.  Likely to improve public awareness of how public money is being spent.

In favour of maintaining the exemption and withholding the information:

 The need to protect the commercial interests of the private sector in general and Ticketer in particular. The recognition of the role that protection of private sector commercial interests has in the general health of the economy.  The need to protect the commercial interests of the public sector in general and Transport Services in particular. The recognition of the role that protection of public sector commercial interests has in the wider context of the public interest.
 The possibility that disclosure of the information would result in financial instability.

Having balanced the factors in favour of disclosure with the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption, we consider that the exemption under Section 30(2)(b) currently outweighs the public interest in disclosure for this request.

We are also unable to provide you with the information you have requested because it would amount to an actionable breach of confidence by Transport Services. We are obliged to preserve the confidentiality of the details of the information under clause 17 of the contract between Ticketer and Transport Services.

Under Section 26(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015, information is considered absolutely exempt if the disclosure of the information to the public by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your Freedom of Information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically to foi.doi@gov.im or by delivery/post to The FOI Co-ordinator, Department of Infrastructure, Sea Terminal Buildings, Douglas, IM1 2RF. An electronic version and paper version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at www.gov.im/foireview

Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on;

1 Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act; or

2 Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.

In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your rights to review is on the Information Commissioner’s website at: www.inforights.im/

Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Further information about Freedom of Information requests can be found at https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Response Team