FOI Request - Review of 101003364196 Commercial Rate for Surface Dressing a Road

Request 101003373752

Review of 101003364196 Commercial Rate for Surface Dressing a Road

I refer to your response to FOI 101003364196.

In your response you state that "disclosure would (or would be likely to) prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person or organisation".

As you offer a service to non council customers it is important that they (non council customers) are aware of your current rates to ensure any work they might want done is provided at the best price from the supplier.  It is therefore odd that you provide an external service but are unwilling to say how much it will cost.

I am therefore requesting you review your response and clarify the conditions where you offer this service to outside non council organisations/persons and the rates you charge.

Response 29-08-2023

Following your request for a review (our ref: 101003373752), a review into your Freedom of Information (FOI) Request, 101003364196 - Commercial Rate for Surface Dressing a Road, was held on 15th August 2023. In attendance were the Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer, Senior Engineer Roads Maintenance and Information Co-ordinator, in consultation with Solicitor Licensing and Regulatory.

Your FOI Request from  25th July 2023 was discussed. It was confirmed that Moray Council does offer surface dressing to external clients if and when this is requested and if the request can fit within the workload at the time. Each requested job is assessed individually and a quote is given for its completion; each quote is individual and will not be provided until the assessment is completed.

Whilst there are scheduled rates for internal work, this does not apply to external work.  For this information we uphold our decision to use the exemption under Section 33(1)(b) of the FOI Scotland Act – “disclosure would (or would be likely to) prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person or organisation”.

We apologise that we were not clearer in our original response in stating that a set schedule of rates for external customers does not exist. If someone wished for a quote they would be advised to contact the Moray Council directly. If the original request had been for a schedule of rates for surface dressing for non-council customers this information would have been exempt under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.