Information Commissioner's Office

Department for International Development

27 November 2008, Central government

The complainant requested a copy of the winning tender proposal for a particular consultancy post along with details of the scores awarded to all of the tenders which the Department for International Development (‘DFID’) received. While DFID provided the complainant with the overall score awarded to the winning tender and the average score awarded to his tender (the complainant’s tender was unsuccessful), DFID refused to disclose the winning tender proposal on the basis of sections 40(2) (personal data) and 43(2) (commercial interests) of the Act and also refused to disclose a detailed breakdown of the scores awarded to the tenders on the basis of section 43(2). The Commissioner has concluded that the winning tender is not exempt on the basis of section 43(2) of the Act and although some of the information contained in the winning tender is exempt on the basis of section 40(2) of the Act, a significant proportion of this information is not. The Commissioner has therefore ordered DFID to disclose this information to the complainant. With regard to the detailed score sheets for each tender, the Commissioner has concluded that the score sheets are the personal data of each individual who submitted a tender. Therefore, the Commissioner has decided that the score sheets held by DFID in relation to the complainant’s tender are exempt on the basis of section 40(1). The Commissioner has also concluded that disclosure of the winning tenderer’s score cards would be unfair is therefore exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 40(2).

FOI 10: Upheld FOI 17: Upheld FOI 40: Partly upheld