Act helps bidders raise their game PDF Print E-mail

ContractJournal.com

September 21, 2005

Contractors are using the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to sharpen up bidding techniques and gain information on failed bids, using third parties to protect their identities.

John Ashton, director of Freedom of Information, which makes third party FOI enquiries for clients, told CJ he has a number of contractors on his books.

?The Act has opened up the potential for companies to get hold of a lot of direct and indirect information about contracts, in terms of bid assessment, evaluation criteria and background information, such as internal reports. This information can shape contract decisions and give an idea of the mindset of the client.?

Ashton said UK companies with US parent firms are particularly likely to take advantage of the Act. ?The US has had similar legislation on information for 40 years and it is commonplace for firms to use it for commercial advantage.?

Contractors using the FOI Act to glean bidding information are reluctant to be identified, but one leading construction  director said: ?With the cost of bidding, anything which gives you the edge has got to make sense and that includes getting as much information about the client?s intentions, mindset or whatever.?

Third party firms provide discretion, Ashton said. ?A company may feel it wants more information on why it has lost a bid or  a contract, without upsetting the delicate nature of its relationship with the client, especially if it gets in a battle for information.?

However, public sector clients, swamped by FOI requests, are striking back. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust recently decided to post all FOI enquiries and responses on its website to prevent private firms profiting from the Act.

Government clients are also using the Act to unearth information about contractors. One PFI director told CJ of a leading consultant that stored survey responses from private sector companies in Canada. This is to prevent UK government clients using the FOI to identify firms that had made critical comments.
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