Traded Services to Schools
Case reference FOI2026/01049
Received 1 May 2026
Published 1 June 2026
Request
Traded Services to Schools – Pricing and Income This request is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Background West Berkshire Council is undertaking a review of its traded services to schools.
As part of this work, we are benchmarking prices and income levels against comparable local authorities to better understand market positioning and value for money.
We would be grateful if you could provide the information below for the most recent complete financial year for which data is available. Information requested
1. Traded services to schools – pricing Please provide details of prices charged to schools for any of the following services that your authority offers on a traded basis:
• Human Resources • Payroll • CLEAPSS Subscription • GDPR • Road Safety Education • Governor Services • Legal Team • Finance Service • MIS (Management Information System) • Schools Technical Support Service • Safeguarding in Schools • Virtual School • School Crossing Patroller • Admissions Appeals • Early Years Service • Educational Psychology Service • Exclusions Appeals • Free School Meals Eligibility • Health and Safety • A Flying Start to Letters and Sounds • Bikeability • Therapeutic Thinking Support Team • Emotional Health Academy • SEN - Learning Support • Social and Emotional Health (SEMH) • Medical Tuition Service • Broadband Service For each service, please indicate: • the price charged (e.g. annual fee, per pupil charge, hourly rate) • the basis of charging (flat fee, per pupil, tiered, bundled, etc.) If pricing varies by school phase or size, please provide a representative example or summary.
2. Income from traded services to schools Please provide: • The total income received by your authority from traded services to schools for the same financial year. • If readily available, a breakdown of this income by service area (e.g. HR, Finance, Legal). If income is not separately recorded for schools alone, please provide the closest available figure and note any assumptions. Format and clarifications • You may provide the information in table form or via existing documents (e.g. SLA brochures, fee schedules, budget papers). • If any of the requested information is not held, please state this clearly. • If providing the full information would exceed the FOI cost threshold, please advise which elements could be provided within the limit.
Response
Traded Services to Schools – Pricing and Income
This request is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Background
West Berkshire Council is undertaking a review of its traded services to schools. As part of this work, we are benchmarking prices and income levels against comparable local authorities to better understand market positioning and value for money.
We would be grateful if you could provide the information below for the most recent complete financial year for which data is available.
Information requested
1. Traded services to schools – pricing
Please provide details of prices charged to schools for any of the following services that your authority offers on a traded basis:
• Human Resources
• Payroll
• CLEAPSS Subscription
• GDPR
• Road Safety Education
• Governor Services
• Legal Team
• Finance Service
• MIS (Management Information System)
• Schools Technical Support Service
• Safeguarding in Schools
• Virtual School
• School Crossing Patroller
• Admissions Appeals
• Early Years Service
• Educational Psychology Service
• Exclusions Appeals
• Free School Meals Eligibility
• Health and Safety
• A Flying Start to Letters and Sounds
• Bikeability
• Therapeutic Thinking Support Team
• Emotional Health Academy
• SEN - Learning Support
• Social and Emotional Health (SEMH)
• Medical Tuition Service
• Broadband Service
For each service, please indicate:
• the price charged (e.g. annual fee, per pupil charge, hourly rate)
• the basis of charging (flat fee, per pupil, tiered, bundled, etc.)
If pricing varies by school phase or size, please provide a representative example or summary.
2. Income from traded services to schools
Please provide:
• The total income received by your authority from traded services to schools for the same financial year.
• If readily available, a breakdown of this income by service area (e.g. HR, Finance, Legal).
If income is not separately recorded for schools alone, please provide the closest available figure and note any assumptions.
Format and clarifications
• You may provide the information in table form or via existing documents (e.g. SLA brochures, fee schedules, budget papers).
• If any of the requested information is not held, please state this clearly.
• If providing the full information would exceed the FOI cost threshold, please advise which elements could be provided within the limit.
A: Please see attached details of Services we provide at Herefordshire Council, along with relevent income details as requested. Please note that some services are provided by Hoople, which is a separate entitity and therefore does not consitite Herefordshire Council information and falls outside of the remit of FOI. Hoople can be approached directly for the infotmstion via the fillowing contact details:
Contact - Hoople Group
Please note, pricing is based on a rate per pupil, and this detail has been withheld under Section 43 (1) and / or (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because disclosure would, or would be likely, to prejudice the commercial interests of Herefordshire Council.
In reaching this decision I have taken into account relevant guidance provided by the Information Commissioner's Office including whether the information in question is commercial or industrial.
Herefordshire Council is satisfied that the information to which the exemption has been applied contains information which could constitute a business secret as well as commercial interests.
Disclosure of the withheld information would adversely affect Herefordshire Council’s ability to opperate Services at current rates. The withheld information contains detailed pricing information for traded services to schools, including per‑pupil charges and charging structures.We believe that disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of Herefordshire Council.
In coming to this decision, I have weighed up the public interest for disclosure against the public interest in not disclosing the information and the commercial interests of Herefordshire Council as follows:
The public interest in disclosure:
Disclosure would promote openness in how the Council operates its traded services and sets prices for schools. This supports public understanding of how public sector bodies compete in the marketplace.
There is a public interest in enabling comparisons between local authorities to assess whether schools are receiving good value for money.
The public interest in not disclosing the information and the commercial interests of Herefordshire Council.
Herefordshire Council operates traded services in a competitive environment, where schools are free to procure services from alternative providers, including private sector organisations and other local authorities. Disclosure of detailed pricing structures (such as per-pupil rates) would reveal the Council’s pricing strategy and cost assumptions, enabling competitors to undercut or replicate pricing models and weaken the Council’s competitive position in future procurement exercises.
Releasing granular pricing would reduce the Council’s ability to negotiate flexibly with schools, particularly where pricing may be tailored or sensitive to scale, need, or package arrangements.
Disclosure could distort the local and regional market by allowing competitors to align prices artificially, reducing fair competition over time.
Taking the above into consideration, I have found the public interest in disclosing the information in this case is outweighed by the public interest in not disclosing the information. Please therefore take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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