BIS Ref:11/0575Your Ref:21 September 2011Dear Mr Cotterill

INTERNAL REVIEW OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST 11/0575

I am writing in response to your email of 5 July requesting an internal review of the abovecase. I have now reviewed the information which was withheld by the Department in itsresponse to your original request. I set out my decision below.Your original request was made on 24 May 2011 and asked for disclosure of,

1) Copies of all funding applications that were successful in attracting Regional

Growth Funds, asannounced on Tuesday 24th March 2011. 2) A copy of any assessment and scoring criteria used bythe Regional Growth Fund panel used to decide which applications should be funded. 3) Anycorrespondence from BIS and the Western Morning News in relation to this organisation'sapplication to the Regional Growth Fund

”.The Department responded to your request on 22 June 2011

(the Response). TheResponse explained that whilst we do hold information which falls within the scope of therequest, the information requested in 1) and 2) was being withheld under section 43(2)and section 41(1) of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act also under the terms of Environmental Information Regulation (EIRs). However, information requested in 3) abovewas released to you.I have conducted an internal review of the original response and in performing this review;I have re-considered whether withholding the information in accordance with theEnvironmental Information Regulations (EIRs) and to the extent the information is notenvironmental, the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA, was correct.As stated in the “Guidance for applicants” on our website, we have approached the 50successful bidders to seek their consent on release of their bid information. Of these, only--

Paul CotterillEmail: **********************

V U.109, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET

http://www.bis.gov.uk/

Direct Line+44 (0)20 7215 3975 |Fax+44 (0)20 7215 6726 Enquiries+44 (0)20 7215 5000 |EmailIan.Gregory@bis.gsi.gov.uk

6 have consented. Copies of these 6 bids are being sent to you separately by post as theyare too large to be sent by email. The personal information within these bids has beenredacted under Sec 40(2) FoIA and some information within the application form has beenredacted, under Sec 43(2) as the information is commercial in nature and release of whichcould prejudice the commercial interests of the bidder.The remaining bidders raised concern about the release of their information which are setout below, and based on this I have decided not to share their bid details.

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The release of information could be damaging to their business and cause theproject to fail – Sec43(2)FoIA and EIRs 12(5)(e)

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Bid contains information that is commercially sensitive, disclosure of which couldprejudice their commercial interests – Sec43(2) FoIA and EIRs 12(5)(e)

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Some of the information has not yet been internally announced and to releasepublicly now could be advantageous for competitors - Sec43(2) FoIA and EIRs12(5)(e)

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Information has been provided in confidence and disclosure would constitute abreach of confidence – Sec 41

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Bids are undergoing due diligence and grant offer is not guaranteed until offer letter is received – Sec43Other than the 6 bids that we have decided to provide you, I have decided to uphold theoriginal decision to withhold the information requested from disclosure, under Section 40,41, 43 (2) of the FOI act and EIR 12 (5)(e), and therefore will not disclose this information.EIRsEnvironmental information is being considered within the exception under regulation 12(5)(e) where the disclosure of information is provided by law to protect a legitimate economicinterest. In considering this, I have applied a presumption in favour of disclosure asrequired by regulation 12(5)(e) EIRs.Each of the bid documents, in its entirety, was supplied to the department in confidence.This information is subject to a duty of confidence and disclosure of the information wouldconstitute an actionable breach of confidence.Further, the bidders have strongly asserted that the disclosure would harm their commercial interests. The information is highly commercial and sensitive and could beused by competitors. Publication of the bid may it hinders bidders’ chances of applying for other funding sources, or obtaining other contracts, particularly where the terms offered toBIS are more favourable.BIS has a wider interest in protecting the effectiveness of the bidding process and notundermining future bidding processes. The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a challengefund where bids are in competition against each other. Decisions on RGF allocations aremade by Ministers on the advice of an Independent Advisory Panel. Disclosure wouldPage 2

alter the competitive nature of the bidding process, disrupt the decision-making and deter future bidders from entrusting us with sensitive commercial information.Whilst we acknowledge the importance of transparency and the need to account for publicfunds, there will be an opportunity to review successful bids as details of the project, grantoffered and company name will be published on our website once bidders have completedtheir “due diligence process” and have been issued with Grant Offer Letters. It is at thispoint the public interest in disclosure/transparency of the allocation of public money will bemet. We therefore consider that the public interest in protecting the effectiveness of theBIS bidding process and the commercial interests of the bidders outweighs the interests of disclosure.The information requested relates to bids that have been successful in the first round of bidding for the Regional Growth Fund. The successful bids are currently undergoing duediligence (apart from one which has completed the due diligence and has been providedwith a final offer letter) before a final offer of funds can be made.In some cases to release information before an offer letter has been made may jeopardisecurrent negotiations that are taking place and where the project does not get past the duediligence process it hinders their chances of applying to for other funding sources.Commercial information may also be used by competitors.While I accept the public interest in disclosing this information, as it would promote greater transparency in the bid process, I consider that the public interest lies in withholding thisinformation while bidders are going through the due diligence process . Summaryinformation on the conclusions of the due diligence process will be published on the BISwebsite,www.bis.gov.uk/rgf once all bidders have completed the process. However, itshould be noted that this summary will not provide detail on why certain bids failed the duediligence as this could identify the project/bidder and thereby prejudice their commercialinterestsFOIATo the extent that any of the information not being disclosed is considered not to beenvironmental information and not subject to the EIRs, then I consider it to be exemptunder section 40(2), 41(1) and section 43(2) of the FoIA.Section 40I have relied on the exemption under Section 40(2) of the FOI (personal information).Personal data of third parties can only be disclosed in accordance with the data protectionprinciples. In particular, the first data protection principle requires that disclosure must befair and lawful and must comply with one of the conditions in Schedule 2 of the DataProtection Act.Page 3