February 25, 2025 | Finance and Procurement , Contracts
Request Number: F-00059
Category: Finance and Procurement - Contracts
Subject: ICT Contracts
Request and Answer:
Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does hold some information to which your request relates and this is being provided to you. We further consider the information you seek in request number 2 is exempt by virtue of Section 43 of FOI and Request 11 is exempt by virtue of section 24 and 31 of FOIA and have detailed our rationale as to why these exemptions apply. We have also provided you with links to guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office which we have followed in responding to your request.
I wish to submit to the organisation a freedom of information request relating to the organisation’s ICT contracts,
specifically around:
1. contact centre contract(s)
2. inbound network services contract(s)
The first part of my request relates to contact centre service contracts which could relate to one of the following:
1. Advanced call distribution to control the flow of calls and maximise customer experience
2. Email, website live chat and integrations with popular social media apps like Facebook and Instagram
3. Performance monitoring tools to track performance, customer satisfaction and other key sales metrics. This could be part of a whole package or separate service applications.
Please send me the following information for each provider:
Request 1
Incumbent Supplier: For each of the contract(s) please can you provide me with the supplier of the contract.
Answer
Command and Control system – SSS public Safety (Formerly Capita SIS)
Request 2
Annual Average Spend: For each supplier, please state the annual average (over 3 years) spend for each supplier
Answer
PSNI Do not hold averages as this is not recorded information.
Further PSNI is withholding annual spend and the rationale for this is outlined under.
Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police Service of Northern Ireland, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
a. states that fact,
b. specifies the exemption in question and
c. states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.
The exemption/s, as well as the factors the Department considered when deciding where the public interest lies, are listed below:
Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests – Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
Section 43 is a qualified class based exemption and a public interest test is required.
Public Interest Test
Factors Favouring Release
Releasing this information would facilitate the accountability and transparency of public authorities in the spending of public money. There is a keen public interest in how public authorities spend taxpayers’ money and that value for money is achieved. Disclosure would better inform the public of the costs involved.
Factors Favouring Retention
The costs for the last 3 years include implementation, license and support costs to divulge this information has the potential to damage the commercial interests of the supplier in any future public sector procurement as other suppliers will know their typical bid costs.
Releasing this detail could disadvantage a company and weaken their ability to tender for future contracts in a competitive market, impacting on future business revenue. The PSNI's commercial interests could also be prejudiced if commercial details and costs were disclosed which would damage the business reputation of the Service. The FOIA does not define commercial interests and the ICO Guidance on the application of s43 suggests that “… a commercial interest relates to a person’s ability to participate competitively in a commercial activity i.e. the purchase and sale of goods or services.”
Disclosure could discourage companies from submitting commercially sensitive information and consequently undermine the ability of the PSNI to procure best value for public funds and to conduct a fair tender competition in the future. To disclose such commercially sensitive information could diminish confidence in the integrity of the public tendering process thus discouraging companies from competing in public sector tenders. A consequence of this would be to reduce the ability of public authorities to obtain value for money in procurement. Obtaining value for money is in the overriding public interest when considering whether to disclose the further information sought
Decision
Release of this information would be likely to harm the process of future tenders and prejudice the commercial interests of the PSNI and the company concerned. A release under Freedom of Information is considered a release into the public domain and would therefore be a release in effect to other competitors. Disclosing contract value in this matter would provide an advantage to rival businesses and undermine the main contractor’s trading ability to tender for future contracts. If tenderers are discouraged this may adversely affect the quality of tenders for public contracts and this would not be in the public interest.
Whilst accountability surrounding the use of public funds is always a strong argument in favour of releasing information, I have decided that disclosing a breakdown of costs would not be in the public interest.
Request 3
Contract Duration: For each supplier, please state the contract duration of the contract expires. If available please also include any contract extensions.
Request 4
Contract Expiry: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract expires.
Request 5
Contract Review: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract will be reviewed.
Answer to 3, 4 & 5
Command & Control system - 84 months initial term plus optional extensions of 60months, 36months and 24months.
Request 6
Contract Description: For each supplier, please state a brief description of the services provided of the overall contract.
Answer
Command & Control system - This contract provides an on premise installation of an emergency service CAD and CRM system with integrated telephony & secure radio delivered via IP along with close integration with other key PSNI systems. Upgrade, maintenance and support options are included as part of this contract.
Request 7
Contact Details: For each supplier, please state the person from within the organisation responsible for the contract. Please provide me with their full name, actual job title, contact number and direct email address. At the very least please provide me with their actual job title.
Answer
The contact information is as follows, Mr Jeff McNamara, Director of PSNI’s Information Communications Services (ICS). There contact number is 028 90922774. We are unable to supply his personal email address but we can supply a generic email which he can be contacted on, [email protected]
Request 8
Number of Agents; please provide me with the total number of contact centre agents;
Answer
Total number of agents is 355 users.
Request 9
Number of Sites; please can you provide me with the number of sites the contact centre covers.
Answer
Total number of sites is 4.
Request 10
Manufacturer of the contact centre: Who is the manufacturer of the contact centre system that you operate?
Answer
CISCO Contact Centre Enterprise / CISCO Attendant Console platforms
Request 11
Do you use Microsoft Exchange 2003 as your email server? If not, then which products do you use?
Answer
PSNI can neither confirm nor deny that information is held relevant to your request as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 24(2) National Security
Section 31(3) Law Enforcement
The full text of exemptions can be found at www.legislation.gov.uk and further guidance on how they operate can be located on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk.
‘Neither Confirm nor Deny’ (NCND)
There may be occasions when complying with the duty to confirm or deny under section 1(1) (a) would in itself disclose sensitive or potentially damaging information that falls under an exemption. In these circumstances, the Act allows a public authority to respond by refusing to confirm or deny whether it holds the requested information.
The decision to issue a ‘neither confirm nor deny’ response is not affected by whether we do or do not hold the information but relates to the consequences of confirming or denying the information is held. The starting point and main focus in most cases will be theoretical considerations about the consequences of confirming or denying that a particular type of information is held. The decision to neither confirm nor deny is separate from a decision not to disclose information and needs to be taken entirely on its own merits.
PSNI follow the Information Commissioner’s Guidance in relation to ‘NCND’ and you may find it helpful to refer to this at the following link:
Sections 24 and 31 being prejudice based qualified exemptions, both evidence of harm and public interest considerations need to be articulated to the applicant.
Harm in Confirming or Denying that Information is held
To confirm or deny whether PSNI uses a particular version of named software would identify vulnerable computer systems and provide actual knowledge, or not, that this software is used within individual force areas. In addition, this would have a huge impact on the effective delivery of operational law enforcement as it would leave forces open to cyberattack which could render computer devices obsolete.
This type of information would be extremely beneficial to offenders, including terrorists and terrorist organisations. It is vitally important that information sharing takes place with other police forces and security bodies within the UK to support counter-terrorism measures in the fight to deprive terrorist networks of their ability to commit crime.
To confirm or deny whether or not PSNI relies on a specific version of named software and applications would be extremely useful to those involved in terrorist activity as it would enable them to map vulnerable information security databases.
Public Interest Considerations
Factors favour complying with Section 1(1)(a) confirming that information is held (s24)
The public are entitled to know how public funds are spent and how resources are distributed within an area of policing. To confirm whether PSNI utilises a specific version of a named application or software product would enable the general public to hold PSNI to by highlighting forces who use out of date software. In the current financial climate of cuts and with the call for transparency of public spending this would enable improved public debate into this subject.
Factors against complying with Section 1(1)(a) confirming or denying that information is held (s24)
Security measures are put in place to protect the community we serve. As evidenced within the harm to confirm information is held would highlight to terrorists and individuals intent on carrying out criminal activity vulnerabilities within PSNI
Taking into account the current security climate within the United Kingdom, no information (such as the citing of an exemption which confirms information pertinent to this request is held, or conversely, stating ‘no information is held’) which may aid a terrorist should be disclosed. To what extent this information may aid a terrorist is unknown, but it is clear that it will have an impact on a force’s ability to monitor terrorist activity.
Irrespective of what information is or isn’t held, the public entrust the Police Service to make appropriate decisions with regard to their safety and protection and the only way of reducing risk is to be cautious with what is placed into the public domain.
The cumulative effect of terrorists gathering information from various sources would be even more impactive when linked to other information gathered from various sources about terrorism. The more information disclosed over time will give a more detailed account of the tactical infrastructure of not only a force area, but also the country as a whole.
Any incident that results from such a disclosure would, by default, affect National Security.
Factors favouring complying with Section 1(1)(a) confirming that information is held (s31)
Confirming that information exists relevant to this request would lead to a better informed public which may encourage individuals to provide intelligence in order to reduce the risk of police networks being hacked.
Factors against complying with Section 1(1)(a) neither confirming nor denying that information is held (s31)
Confirmation or denial that information is held in this case would suggest PSNI take their responsibility to protect information and information systems from unauthorised access, destruction, etc., dismissively and inappropriately.
Balancing Test
The points above highlight the merits of confirming or denying the requested information exists. The Police Service is charged with enforcing the law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities we serve. As part of that policing purpose, information is gathered which can be highly sensitive relating to high profile investigative activity.
Weakening the mechanisms used to monitor any type of criminal activity, and specifically terrorist activity would place the security of the country at an increased level of danger.
In addition, anything that places that confidence at risk, no matter how generic, would undermine any trust or confidence individuals have in the Police Service. Therefore, at this moment in time, it is our opinion that for these issues the balance test favours neither confirming nor denying that information is held.
Request 12
Number of email users: Approximate number of email users across the organisations.
Answer
There are 14,000 users.
The second part of my request relates to the use inbound network services contracts which could relate to one of the following:
1. 0800, 0845, 0870, 0844, 0300 number
2. Routing of calls
3. Caller Identifier
4. Caller Profile- linking caller details with caller records
5. Interactive voice response (IVR)
For a contract relating to the above please can you provide me with?
Request 1
Incumbent Supplier: For each of the contract(s) please can you provide me with the supplier of the contract.
Request 2
Annual Average Spend: For each supplier, please state the annual average (over 3 years) spend for each supplier
Request 3
Contract Expiry: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract expires.
Request 4
Contract Review: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract will be reviewed.
Request 5
Contract Description: For each supplier, please state a brief description of the services provided of the overall contract.
Request 6
Contact Details: For each supplier, please state the person from within the organisation responsible for the contract. Please provide me with their full name, actual job title, contact number and direct email address.
Answer to Part B Requests 1-6
The contract is NI PSSN which is not owned by PSNI and any information relating to it should be sought from ITAssist, Department of Finance, for Northern Ireland.