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24 Jan 2005 : Column 139W—continued
External Suppliers
John Mann: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many tenders were let by his Department to external suppliers in financial year 2003–04; and what the value was. [209115]
Mr. Leslie:
During 2003–04 my Departments central procurement and estates function let 26 new contracts, for national/regional provision, and with an individual value in excess of £100,000. The estimated total value of these contracts is around £17 million.
24 Jan 2005 : Column 140W
The total number of contracts let by my Department, including orders placed against existing contracts, contracts placed locally, and contracts below £100,000 is not held centrally and could only be established at disproportionate cost.
Freedom of Information
John Mann: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what categories of information are available under Freedom of Information legislation that have not been provided in written parliamentary answers by his Department in the last three years. [207824]
Mr. Leslie: The Freedom of Information Act does not make specific categories of information available, but operates on the presumption that all information held by public authorities should be available, subject to the 24 exemptions of the Act.
Whether or not information is exempt under the Act requires the exercise of judgment in each case. The majority of the exemptions also require that the public interest in releasing the information should be weighed against the public interest in withholding it. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it the information must be disclosed. The assessment of the public interest has to be made in all the circumstances of the case, on a case-by-case basis as far as each request is concerned.
Norman Baker: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will provide a list of the contact points for each Government Department for all applications for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [210291]
Mr. Leslie: The following is a list of Freedom Of Information contacts for each of the Government Departments.
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