FOI/202500495918 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Procurement Processes for Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) Direct Award: EIR release
Information requested
Recorded information held by Transport Scotland limited to internal memos, formal reports, or risk assessments (excluding emails), from January 2024 to May 2025:
1. Documents outlining the criteria and justifications used for deciding on a direct award for the CHFS contract, including any evaluations of service continuity and value for money.
2. Performance monitoring reports on the previous CHFS contract that informed the direct award decision, specifically reliability and capacity data for key routes like Arran and South Uist.
3. Records of consultations or analyses regarding procurement options for the CHFS contract, including considerations of tender processes and their potential benefits for efficiency.
Response
As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
1. Documents outlining the criteria and justifications used for deciding on a direct award for the CHFS contract, including any evaluations of service continuity and value for money.
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to the information you have requested because it is internal communication between Scottish Government Ministers and officials about the procurement strategy selected, Direct Award, for the new Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services Contract (CHFS3).
2. Performance monitoring reports on the previous CHFS contract that informed the direct award decision, specifically reliability and capacity data for key routes like Arran and South Uist.
Performance information by route is available on the Performance reports section of the CalMac website. This information did not directly drive the direct award decision but network wide data was considered as supporting evidence.
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to the information you have requested because it is internal communication between Scottish Government Ministers and officials about the procurement strategy selected, Direct Award, for the new Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services Contract (CHFS3).
3. Records of consultations or analyses regarding procurement options for the CHFS contract, including considerations of tender processes and their potential benefits for efficiency.
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to the information you have requested because it is internal communication between Scottish Government Ministers and officials about the procurement strategy selected, Direct Award, for the new Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services Contract (CHFS3).
The reasons why that exemption(s) applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.
There is a publicly available document you may find helpful, Project Neptune: Communities Report on Future Management of Ferries by Angus Campbel, Chair of the Ferries Communities Board.
You may find helpful information in the frequently asked questions section of the CHFS3 webpage.
Annexes to the Standard Response- Reasons for not providing information
Regulation 10(4)(e) – internal communications [in relation to general policy and decision-making]
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to the information you have requested because it is internal communication between Scottish Government Ministers and officials about the procurement strategy selected, Direct Award, for the new Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services Contract (CHFS3).
This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the discussions on the CHFS3 Direct Award will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that policy while it is still under discussion and development.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to the information you have requested because it is internal communication between Scottish Government Ministers and officials about the procurement strategy selected, Direct Award, for the new Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services Contract (CHFS3).
Attachments
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