PKC silent over deal
Perth and Kinross Council is refusing to say how much it shelled out to acquire a company’s commercial waste collection service earlier this year.
The local authority announced out of the blue it was taking over assets and contracts held by Wyllie Recycling, which is based at Perth’s Inveralmond Industrial Estate, back in July.
The council wrote to the company’s customers that month saying it would honour contract prices agreed with Wyllie Recycling until the end of March 2020 and it would not charge VAT on collections so businesses would see a reduction in their bills.
Council leader Murray Lyle was quoted at the time as saying the acquisition would generate “additional income for the council” and was “in line with the council’s aspirations to be more entrepreneurial and embrace the commercialisation agenda”.
But the PA has learned the council’s legal and governance team are now refusing to reveal how much the move actually cost after being asked to do so by an individual using Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation.
A council information officer said in their response to the request: “The cost of the acquisition is being withheld as it’s deemed to be commercially sensitive under Section 33(1)(b) of the Act.
“Section 33(1)(b) relates to commercial interests and the economy, and states that information is exempt if “its disclosure under this Act would, or would likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interest of any person (including, without prejudice to that generality, a Scottish public authority)”.
Noting a requirement of applying this exemption is to consider the public interest in disclosing the information asked for, the officer acknowledged there was a public interest in knowing whether the council had achieved best value through the deal.
However, the officer then went on to argue on this occasion there was also a public interest in “ensuring that any purchasing process is done so equitably and without prejudice and at the same time maintaining the integrity of confidentiality and the commercial interests of participating parties”.
The officer also argued that disclosure in this instance “could lead to a reduction in the number of companies willing to bid for future acquisitions due to concerns about future disclosure of their commercially sensitive information” and therefore “opportunities for potential savings and value for money for the council could be jeopardized”.
The officer’s response went on: “To release the total cost of this acquisition would be likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of both the council and Wyllie Recycling.
“On balance, therefore, the public interest in withholding the acquisition price outweighs the public interest in releasing this information at this time, therefore I am withholding this information.”
The individual who filed the FoI request is now seeking a review of the officer’s response, however, telling the council’s legal and governance team: “It is my opinion that the FoI has not been answered fully or transparently.
“This relates mainly to those points where information being commercially sensitive has been cited as the reason for not providing a full and transparent response.
“Given that it would appear no competitive process has been followed in this acquisition the questions raised in the original FOI are in the public interest and warrant an accurate and full response.
“With this in mind I would appreciate if an internal review is carried out that considers all the points raised in the original FoI.”
A council information governance officer has confirmed the response is now being reviewed. A spokesperson said yesterday the council had nothing further to add to its response.