Freedom of information request
Procurement or tender process for language services
- Freedom of information request reference
- CAS-322457
- Request resolved
Request
I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
1. When the organisation last ran a procurement or tender process for language services, including (but not limited to) translation, interpretation, or transcription services.
2. The evaluation weighting used in that tender, specifically the percentage weighting allocated to quality and the percentage weighting allocated to price (e.g., 70% quality / 30% price).
- The quality and price scores awarded to each bidder in that tender, including:
- The name of each bidder (unless withheld under Section 43 or other relevant exemption).
- The quality score for each bidder.
- The price score for each bidder.
- The total score for each bidder (if available).
3. If any part of the information is exempt, please provide the non‑exempt portions and cite the specific exemption(s) being relied upon.
If you require any clarification, please let me know as soon as possible. Otherwise, I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as required by the Act.
Outcome
Some information provided.
Response
I can confirm that The National Archives holds information relevant to your request and we are pleased to be able to provide some of this information to you.
We are unable to provide you with some of the information you have requested because it is covered by the exemption at section 43(2) of the FOI Act, which exempts information if disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person. For further information about why this exemption has been applied, please see the explanatory annex at the end of this letter.
Information regarding open tender processes previously undertaken in the public sector (including the tender documentation which describes evaluation criteria) can be found on the Find Tender and GOV.UK's contract finder websites.
For The National Archives, the last open tender undertaken which included translation, interpretation or transcription services as a substantive component was in October 2024.
The evaluation criteria applied in that case were Methodology (25%), Experience (10%), Price (10%), Proof of Concept Activity (45%), Social Value (10%).
The winning bidder was Max Communications.
Details of the unsuccessful bids, including company names and scores, are exempt from release under section 43(2) of the FOI Act, as detailed further in the explanatory annex.
Annexe
Exemptions applied
Section 43(2): Commercial Interests
This section exempts information whose disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person. In this case, the exemption applies because release would prejudice the commercial interests of the unsuccessful bidders for this tender and The National Archives.
Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public interest in releasing the information must be considered. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it then the exemption does not apply and the information must be released. In the FOIA there is a presumption that information should be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.
The public interest test has now been concluded and the balance of the public interest has been found to fall in favour of withholding information covered by the section 43(2) exemption.
Considerations in favour of the release of the information included The National Archives’ commitment to openness and transparency in its commercial activities, to allow public scrutiny and to demonstrate that public funds are being used in an efficient and effective way. Furthermore private sector companies engaging in commercial activities with the public sector must expect some information about those activities to be disclosed. In this case details of unsuccessful tenders bids and how they scored on an evaluation level.
Considerations against disclosure included the recognition that disclosure is likely to provide information to direct competitors within the market that would create an imbalance and a commercial advantage to those competitors. Furthermore disclosure of this information is also likely to affect The National Archives’ ability to negotiate contracts in the future and consequently generate revenue from non-public funds. It is also considered that disclosure would be likely to deter potential bidders for future contracts from competing and sharing commercially sensitive information with us.
As such, release of this information is seen to prejudice the commercial interests of the unsuccessfully bidders and The National Archives. This would outweigh any benefits of release. It was therefore decided that the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding the material on this occasion.
Further guidance on the application of this exemption can be found on the ICO website.