Request

I wish to request the following information from you:

A copy of the Service Level Agreement (or any such agreement that exists for work undertaken) which exists between the BSA and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT).

The Service Level Agreement I am requesting is specifically regarding the BSA undertaking Job Evaluation activities. For example, but not limited to, Job Matching, Job Evaluation, Consistency checking of Job Descriptions provided by UHMBT.

For clarity, I am not requesting information that may be commercially sensitive and I would expect this information to be redacted under the FOI Act. My request is limited to a copy of the Service Level Agreement (or otherwise) which outlines the work you undertake regarding Job Evaluation on behalf of UHMBT.

Response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested, and a copy of the information is attached.

Please be aware that some information has been redacted from the document as this information is exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) or section 40(2) of the FOIA.

Section 43(2) - Commercial Interests

Information regarding charges is exempt under section 43(2) of the FOIA as releasing the information would adversely affect the commercial interests of the NHSBSA.

Section 43(2) is a prejudice based, qualified exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that in order for the information to be withheld, the public interest in maintaining the exemption must outweigh the exemption in disclosure.

Public Interest Test:

Considerations in favour of disclosure:

• The inherent public interest in the openness and transparency of public authority dealings.

• The public interest that officials are spending money wisely and getting the best value for money.

Considerations against disclosure:

• Disclosing information which allows unit price to be calculated may reduce the competitive nature and innovation in pricing as it would identify the price that the NHSBSA charges for services.

• Disclosing the requested information could weaken the NHSBSA’s future position as potential customers would not have the confidence that the NHSBSA would keep sensitive financial information private and may discourage future customers from contracting NHSBSA services; this would not be in the public interest.

Conclusion:

The NHSBSA recognises that there is a public interest in the disclosure of information which facilitates openness, transparency, and accountability in public authority dealings; however, there is an inherent public interest in the NHSBSA being able to work in competitive markets, whereby the financial and reputational benefit is put to the wider public interest.

Having undertaken the balancing exercise, the NHSBSA concludes that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Please see the following link to view the section 43(2) exemption in full - Freedom of Information Act 2000 (legislation.gov.uk)

Section 40(2) - Personal Information

Names and email addresses of NHSBSA colleagues and customer contacts have not been released as this information falls under the exemption in Section 40 subsections 2 and 3(A)(a) of the FOIA.

This is because it would breach the first data protection principle as: a) it is not fair to disclose these personal details to the world and is likely to cause damage or distress to the individuals. b) these details are not of sufficient interest to the public to warrant an intrusion into the privacy of those colleagues and customer contacts.

Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2026” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.