Good afternoon Mr Gothe-Snape
I refer to your email dated 2 March 2017 (below), and your follow up email of the same date (attached) revising the scope of your request dated 31 January 2017 under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)(FOI Act).
The purpose of this email to provide you with a further opportunity to revise the scope of your request, as in its current form it does not provide enough information concerning the relevant documents as is necessary for the Department to identify them.
Your revised request, as further modified by your follow-up email, is as follows (using numbers instead of dashes):
1. A list of tenderers by region and tender subcategory (employment provider services etc);
2. The outcome of each region and subcategory under the tender, ie the preferred tenderer by region and subcategory along with the contract value; and
3. For the region and subcategory with the highest contract value in which Sarina Russo Job Access (Australia) Pty Ltd was the preferred tenderer, records required to be kept under the Commonwealth Procurement Rules clause 7.2 for ‘how value for money was considered and achieved’, and ‘relevant decisions and the basis of those decisions.’
In relation to Items 2 and 3 of your request, please note that ‘contract value’ is calculated at a national rather than regional level. Further, estimates as to contract value relate to potential value, given that money spent under the Employment Services Programme can vary depending on a number of factors (such as job seeker movement between providers and job seeker outcomes). As such, we are advised that the Department does not hold documents setting out contract value at a regional level, and is unable to generate such documents in relation to your request in its current form.
Secondly, please note that the Employment Services tender did not select ‘preferred tenderers’ in relevant employment regions. Each region had a number of successful tenderers between whom business was allocated based on various criteria, including value for money.
In relation to Item 3 of your request, the Department is unable to identify, for the reasons set out above, the region with the highest contract value, nor the region in which Sarina Russo was the ‘preferred tenderer’. You may wish to consider nominating a region in respect of which you would like documents. To assist you in this regard, we provide the following publicly available document, which indicates the regions in which Sarina Russo was a successful tenderer: ‘Request for Tender for Employment Services 2015-2020 Outcomes’, available on the Department’s website: https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/jobactive_2015-2020_outcomes.pdf
You may also find the Labour Market Information Portal a useful source of information to assist you in revising your request.
Once you have revised the scope of your request in light of the matters referred to above, we will be able to consider your request. In order for the Department to meet its statutory timeframes, we would appreciate it if you could respond to us by 1PM Monday 6 March 2017. If we do not hear from you by then, we may issue a further formal notice under section 24AB of the FOI Act.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss.
Kind regards
James Ramsay
Information Law Team
Information Law, Practice Management and Corporate Advising Branch
Australian Government Department of Employment
-----Original Message-----
From: Jackson Gothe-Snape [mailto:foi+[email address]]
Sent: Thursday, 2 March 2017 2:44 PM
To: Employment - FOI
Subject: RE: Notice of intention to refuse request under the FOI Act [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Hello Mr Ramsay,
Can I please vary the scope of my request following consultation.
For the tender with the reference CN3174232 can you please provide:
-a list of tenderers by region and tender subcategory (employment provider services, etc), -the outcome of each tender and subcategory, ie preferred tenderer by subcategory and contract value, and -for the region and subcategory with the highest contract value in which Sarina Russo Job Access (Australia) Pty Ltd was the preferred tenderer, records required to be kept under the Commonwealth Procurement Rules clause 7.2 for 'how value for money was considered and achieved', and 'relevant decisions and the basis of those decisions'.
Yours sincerely,
Jackson Gothe-Snape
-----Original Message-----
Good afternoon Mr Gothe-Snape
This number appears to have been disconnected.
Is there an alternative number I can contact you on to discuss?
Kind regards
James Ramsay
Information Law Team
Information Law, Practice Management and Corporate Advising Branch Australian Government Department of Employment
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