FOI 618-2025 / June 2025 / Contracts
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 618-2025
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 11th June 2025 as follows:
Q1. Contract Register
Please provide a complete and current extract of your organisation’s contract register or equivalent database. We are not asking you to compile new information or manually populate missing fields – we simply request the register in its existing form, preferably in Excel or CSV format.
Where available, we are particularly interested in the following fields (though this is not a strict requirement):
- Contract Title
- Supplier Name
- Estimated Spend (Total or Annual)
- Contract Duration and Total Period (including extensions)
- Contract Start and Expiry Dates
- Review Date
- Contract Description
- Contract Owner (Name, Job Title, Contact Details if available)
- Contract Notes
- Managing Department
- Award Date
- Participating Organisations
- Procurement Category
- Framework or Tender References
- Central Purchasing Body
- Classification Codes (CPV, Pro-Class, etc.)
Please don’t spend time populating these fields if they aren’t readily available – we welcome receiving the raw register as it exists in your system.
Q2. Total Number of Active Contracts
Please confirm the total number of contracts currently listed as active.
Q3. Procurement Strategy (2025/2026)
Please provide your organisation’s Procurement Strategy for 2025/2026.
If this is part of a multi-year strategy (e.g., 2024–2028), please provide the most recent version covering 2025/2026 or indicate when this will be available.
If any parts are redacted, please identify the redacted sections and the reason.
Q4. Contact Information
If possible, please provide the name, job title, phone number, and email address for the following roles:
- Responsible officer for API access or data sharing (if applicable)
- Individual managing the contract register
- Finance Director
- Head/Director of Procurement or Purchasing
- Head/Director of ICT
- Head of Estates and Facilities
- Relevant Committee Member, Councillor, or Board Member for
- Procurement/Finance
If direct contact details are restricted due to GDPR, please indicate the best department or method of contact.
Additional Notes
If your contract register is available via an online portal, please ensure all records are accessible (as some portals may only show summary data).
If your organisation uses a contract management system or CRM, please confirm whether it allows for data exports.
If you intend to withhold spend figures, please note that we are requesting an overall total or indicative spend only – not a line-by-line financial breakdown.
Format and Delivery
We would appreciate receiving the information in electronic format, ideally as Excel or CSV, within the statutory FOI response period.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response:
Q1 and Q2 response: Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
When refusing to provide such information, because the information is exempt, Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire Police to provide the applicant with a notice which:
(a) States that fact
(b) Specifies the exemption(s) in question and
(c) States (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption(s) applies.
I can confirm that the requested information is held, however, some of the information is exempt from disclosure by virtue of the following exemption:
Section 21(1) - Information reasonably accessible by other means
The requested information in relation to the majority of Warwickshire Police contracts is published on Public Contract Register.
By selecting ‘Warwickshire Police’ as the organisation you are then able to download a full list of information by clicking on ‘Export’.
With regard to the contracts that have not been published, the requested details are exempt from disclosure by virtue of the following exemption:
Section 31(1)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement
Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides an exemption from disclosure if the release of information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, or the administration of justice. It is a prejudice-based qualified exemption and as such, there is a requirement to evidence the harm disclosure would cause and to carry out a public interest test.
Evidence of Harm
Requests under the Freedom of Information Act are ‘applicant blind’, which means that the motives of anyone requesting information are not questioned. Therefore, in providing a response to one person, we are expressing a willingness to provide the same response to everyone.
Disclosure of contract information, including the total number active, which is sensitive in nature, could be of value to a person or persons with criminal or malicious intent, and, along with other information already in the public domain, could equip such individuals with intelligence regarding the capability of the force. Furthermore, it could then allow criminals to map resources across the force, thereby targeting specific areas for criminal activity, as well as enabling such individuals to adapt and counteract law enforcement efforts. This in turn could compromise the effectiveness and success of ongoing or future law enforcement operations, hinder the prevention and detection of crime and place the community at increased unnecessary risk of harm.
Public Interest Test
Section 31 - Factors Favouring Disclosure
The principle of transparency and accountability supports the disclosure of information to ensure public scrutiny and oversight of law enforcement activities. Disclosing contract information, where it does not pose significant harm, can enhance public understanding and trust in police operations.
In certain circumstances, there may be a legitimate public interest in knowing how public funds are allocated and utilised, particularly when it comes to contracts. Disclosure can facilitate public debate and scrutiny regarding the expenditure of taxpayer money, and the effectiveness of law enforcement strategies.
Section 31 - Factors Against Disclosure
There is a strong public interest in ensuring the effectiveness of the law enforcement capability of Warwickshire Police. Disclosure of supplier identities and product information, together with contract descriptions and other related information, would mean that individuals could research details about capabilities available to the force. This may allow terrorists and criminals the opportunity to assess strengths and any possible weaknesses of these capabilities. This would compromise law enforcement which could lead to more crime being committed and individuals being placed at risk. This information may also be used by criminals/terrorists in combination with other information they have gathered to try and disrupt law enforcement.
Balance Test
The balancing act between transparency and accountability on one hand and the protection of operational effectiveness, law enforcement, and public safety on the other hand, must be carefully assessed. Each case should be evaluated based on its specific circumstances and the potential impact of disclosure or non-disclosure.
Whilst the value of accountability and the legitimate interest in the public being satisfied in how the force utilise public funds is recognised, the non-disclosure of contract information deemed sensitive helps to protect law enforcement techniques which disclosure could render ineffective or obsolete.
It is not in the public interest to disclose information around law enforcement tactics and operational capability, if that information could be of intelligence value to those intent on committing crime or leave resources vulnerable to being targeted by criminal organisations. The ability to deliver effective law enforcement is of paramount importance, and Warwickshire Police will not divulge information if to do so would have an adverse effect on the force’s ability to prevent and detect crime. In this case, disclosing the details would not only affect the force’s ability to do so but would also impact upon its core responsibility of protecting the community it serves and its officers.
Therefore, on balance, it is considered that the public interest in providing the information is outweighed by the potential impact release would have on current and future law enforcement activities, and this represents a refusal notice for any information relating to contracts not already in the public domain.
Q3 response: Please be advised that the current Procurement Strategy is available in the public domain and is therefore exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 21 – ‘Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means’.
Q4 response: I can advise that Warwickshire Police does hold the requested information; however, the information is being withheld from disclosure.
The relevant exemptions in this case are:
Section 31(1)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement
Section 40(2) Personal Information
Section 31 is a prejudice-based qualified exemption and, as such, there is a requirement to evidence the harm disclosure would cause and to carry out a public interest test. These have been set out further below.
Section 40 is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require evidence of the harm disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a public interest test. That being said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption absolute there needs to be evidence that a Data Protection Principle would be breached by disclosure.
This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with any other information from within the Police Service or public domain. In this case, providing some of the requested personal email addresses is likely to lead to the identification of individuals. Such a disclosure would breach individuals’ rights under the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR which states that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.
Evidence of Harm
The Freedom of Information Act provides the public with a general right of access to recorded information held by public authorities. However, information disclosed under this Act is effectively released into the public domain, or to ‘the world’, and not only to the person making the request.
In this case, disclosure of the requested information would place the emails and telephone numbers of senior officers, staff and business leads into the public domain risking them being bombarded with unnecessary correspondence, which would result in delays and backlogs to essential work and lead to them having less time to devote to their critical roles.
Public Interest Considerations for S31(1)(a)(b) Law Enforcement
Section 31 - Factors favouring Disclosure
There is a public interest in disclosing information that promotes openness, accountability and transparency and ensures public confidence and trust in Policing.
Section 31 - Factors favouring Non-Disclosure
Effective law enforcement is the core function of the police service and is of paramount importance to Warwickshire Police and this must be considered in respect of every release.
If the requested information is disclosed, this could lead to a significant increase in the public making direct contact with specific business areas and officers/staff, rather than going through the appropriate channels. This could result in increased backlogs and demands, and senior officers being prevented from carrying out their core duties.
Balancing Test
As always, the Freedom of Information Act has a presumption in favour of disclosure, unless, when balancing the competing public interest factors, the prejudice to the community outweighs the benefits. In this case, the argument for disclosure is openness and transparency and public confidence. However, this needs to be weighed against the argument for non-disclosure, which in this case is a negative impact on law enforcement and operational policing capabilities due to senior officers, staff and business leads being diverted from their core duties and responsibilities because of unnecessary additional contact.
Therefore, having considered the arguments for and against disclosure, I have concluded that, at this time, the argument in favour of maintaining the exemption is stronger and outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
In accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a refusal notice with regard to this request.
Outside of the Act and in order to provide assistance, please find a link to the Senior Management Team page of our website below:
Contact can be made via the below link or via the 101 non-emergency number:
https://www.warwickshire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us-beta/contact-us/
In addition, contract related enquiries can be made via the below public email address:
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB