Contract between Gigaclear and Herefordshire Council
Case reference FOI2025/00295
Received 9 February 2025
Published 19 March 2025
Request
I would like to access service delivery information, penalties and obligations regarding the contract between Gigaclear and Herefordshire Council (or Fastershire).
I estimate that they have exceeded their delivery timeline by nearly a decade and must now be in some state of default. I do not think 'commercially sensitive' would be a reasonable response in this case. As the contract has lingered for some years, many properties have been unable to be included in other Project Gigabit initiatives.
Are you able to provide the following, particularly for Pipe Aston and The Goggin from the Wigmore area (North Herefordshire):
1) Timescales when services should be made available by.
2) Payment schedules, particularly relating to completion of the contract in the North Herefordshire area and if any amounts are outstanding.
3) Are there any penalties for not fulfilling the contract?
4) Current state of the contract. Is it still in place or considered broken?
Response
I would like to access service delivery information, penalties and obligations regarding the contract between Gigaclear and Herefordshire Council (or Fastershire).
I estimate that they have exceeded their delivery timeline by nearly a decade and must now be in some state of default. I do not think 'commercially sensitive' would be a reasonable response in this case. As the contract has lingered for some years, many properties have been unable to be included in other Project Gigabit initiatives.
Are you able to provide the following, particularly for Pipe Aston and The Goggin from the Wigmore area (North Herefordshire):
1) Timescales when services should be made available by.
Answer: The Service Area have advised there were 2 subsidised properties in Pipe Aston. These are being descoped from the contract due to commercial activity by another operator that has made their delivery unviable. The outstanding subsidised properties at The Goggin require a major road permit to enable works to achieve a final connection. The permit is booked for 12th-16th May 2025.
2) Payment schedules, particularly relating to completion of the contract in the North Herefordshire area and if any amounts are outstanding.
Answer: The payment schedules have 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 Gigaclear.
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 of Gigaclear as well as commercial interests.
Disclosure of the withheld information would adversely affect Gigaclear. The withheld information contains commercially sensitive information about the company’s financial modelling, network design and delivery models.
This information is unique to that company, proprietary in nature and provides a detailed overview of the way that the company approaches such contracts. The company has stated that disclosure of this information would be of advantage to their direct competitors, thereby negating their ability to develop a commercial advantage when tendering for this contract in the future with Herefordshire Council, or for similar contracts elsewhere.
The council accepts the legitimate economic interests of the company would be likely to be prejudiced by disclosure of the information.
The council is also able to consider its own economic interests in addition to those of Gigaclear. The council feels that confidentiality is required to protect its position as purchaser. Disclosing this information would be likely to affect the ability of the council to negotiate best value and to effectively procure services in the future.
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 Gigaclear as follows:
The public interest in disclosure:
Transparency and confirming the contract is good value for money.
The public interest in not disclosing the information and the commercial interests of Gigaclear
These documents contain commercially sensitive information about the company’s financial modelling, network design and delivery models which could be advantageous to competitors and suppliers.
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.
3) Are there any penalties for not fulfilling the contract?
Answer: No record of any penalties has been identified.
4) Current state of the contract. Is it still in place or considered broken?
Answer: Delivery phase of the contract ended in October 2024; we are now entering formal closure of deployment phase and BDUK assurance process.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.