Cabinet Office
610 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 24.1%
The Freedom of Information requests to the Isle of Man Cabinet Office reveal an authority that is generally cooperative regarding historical data, spending totals, and employment statistics, but fiercely protective of its internal deliberative processes and contingency planning. A clear pattern emerges where the government readily discloses the *cost* of its actions—such as the £425,000 legal retainer for Lansons (464233) or the £57,000 paid to John Barrett QC (1001057)—while withholding the *strategy* behind them. This is most evident in the Brexit cluster, where documents on 'Operation Yellowhammer' (937314) and food supply chains (984789) were entirely exempted, suggesting a 'need-to-know' approach to national security and economic stability that overrides public transparency.
Key Cases
Case 937314 — The complete refusal to disclose any documents regarding 'Operation Yellowhammer' (No-Deal Brexit contingency) is a critical case. It reveals the government's decision to keep its most sensitive emergency planning entirely hidden from public scrutiny, citing exemptions that prevent any insight into how the island prepared for a potential economic and logistical collapse.
Case 464233 — This case disclosed a massive £425,000 annual retainer for the law firm Lansons, plus an additional £70,000 for 'international scrutiny.' It highlights the significant financial burden of legal defense and reputation management on the public purse, likely linked to the island's financial crime investigations.
Case 354247 — The disclosure of the Cabinet Office paper regarding the UK Investigatory Powers Bill is notable for its intersection of national security and local legislation. It shows the Isle of Man's active role in shaping its own surveillance laws in alignment with the UK, raising questions about privacy and state powers.
Case 1001057 — Revealing that John Barrett QC was paid over £57,000 for a single planning inquiry (the East Area Plan) underscores the high cost of independent legal advice in government planning. It connects to a broader narrative of expensive external consultants being used to navigate complex land-use disputes.
Case 354255 — The full release of the 'Beamans Report' on modernizing ministerial government is significant because it provides a rare, unredacted look at internal critiques of senior management structures. Unlike many policy papers, this was fully disclosed, offering a benchmark for what transparency looks like when the government is willing to share reform documents.
Related FOI Stories
Brexit Contingency and Border Security — #354247, #358517, #354299, #354301, #354303
Legal Costs and High-Profile Appointments — #354269, #354289, #354291, #464233, #980113
Government Transparency and Policy Formulation — #354255, #354267, #354309, #354357, #357735
Public Sector Employment and Workforce Data — #354221, #354313, #354315, #354321, #354327
Ministerial Conduct and Travel Expenses — #354249, #354287, #354305, #357737, #622865
| Date | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-11-20 | Unfair Dismissal | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-11-20 | Chiefs wages | All information sent |
| 2023-11-15 | Refugees and work permits | Information not held |
| 2023-11-10 | Working hours and pay policies | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-11-07 | Press Office Contacts with the Media | Some information sent but part exempt |
| A request was made for all correspondence between the Cabinet Office Press Office and IOMTODAY from June to November 2023, resulting in the disclosure of some emails regarding electric bus trials while other information was withheld under exemptions. | ||
| 2023-11-07 | DHSC work permits | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-11-01 | Figures of refugee and asylum seekers | All information sent |
| 2023-11-01 | Persons missing from Register of Electors | All information sent |
| 2023-10-30 | Energy Policy Board | Information not held |
| The requester asked for details on staffing positions, hours, grades, and budgets for the Energy Policy Board Secretariat and external experts. The Cabinet Office responded that the specific information was not held, though they provided context that secretariat duties are part of existing roles and a £500,000 funding request is pending Treasury approval. | ||
| 2023-10-26 | Updated number of Government employees | All information sent |
| 2023-10-25 | Headcount of Government employees | All information sent |
| 2023-10-24 | Remuneration paid to Manx Care Board members 2022-23 | All information sent |
| 2023-10-16 | Yellow card data, who reviewed it | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester sought correspondence and governance details regarding Yellow Card data and COVID-19 vaccine adverse reactions between December 2020 and December 2021. The Cabinet Office responded with partial information, providing specific email exchanges from April 2021 concerning a death and anaphylaxis incident, while noting that not all requested information was held. | ||
| 2023-10-11 | Free Private Health Care | All information sent |
| 2023-10-11 | Living wage | All information sent |
| 2023-10-03 | Government Conference on Thursday the 21st September 2023 | All information sent |
| 2023-09-15 | first 4 weeks holiday pay and the regular overtime pay component | Information not held |
| 2023-09-14 | Agency Staff | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-09-13 | Sickness records | All information sent |
| 2023-08-22 | Meta data on Council of Ministers minutes dated 16 March 2020 | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-08-21 | Public Health HR Review | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2023-08-15 | £500 Covid payment | Information not held |
| 2023-08-15 | external legal costs | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-08-11 | Office of Human Resources | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-08-08 | All direct correspondence with the World Economic Forum (WEF) | Information not held |
| 2023-07-25 | 5g | Information not held |
| 2023-07-24 | Interim Information Commissioner | All information sent |
| 2023-07-19 | Earystane & Scards, Sulby & Druidale | Not upheld |
| The request sought all information regarding proposed onshore wind farms, including notes and meeting records. The response disclosed internal Manx Utilities Authority documents detailing site selection, capacity targets, and timelines for three potential locations, though the overall FOI complaint was not upheld. | ||
| 2023-07-10 | Immigration from outwith Common Travel Area | All information sent |
| 2023-07-07 | Civica iCasework cloud hosted system user licences and contract | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-07-06 | Immigration statistics | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-07-04 | Nuclear Preparedness | Information not held |
| 2023-06-20 | JEGS | All information sent |
| 2023-06-16 | Employee survey results | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2023-06-06 | Telecoms Competition | Information not held |
| 2023-05-30 | Integrity Line | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-05-16 | Director liability insurance | Information not held |
| 2023-05-16 | Employment tribunals | Information not held |
| 2023-05-09 | Quantity of Contractors employed by government by department | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-05-04 | The Dr Ranson Affair | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-05-04 | Minister Lord Brennan statement | Information not held |
| 2023-05-04 | payments made to the 27 staff in the 2022/2023 financial year | Not upheld |
| 2023-05-04 | PHE delay and 'Toning down' of DHSC Medical Director clinical advice | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-04-26 | Supplemental to, the partial answer dated 17 April 2022 to my FOI | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-04-14 | Re the Port Erin Commissioners Clerk's remuneration | Information not held |
| 2023-04-12 | Off-Island employees/contractors | Not upheld |
| 2023-04-10 | Air B&B let's | Information not held |
| 2023-04-04 | Callister Email | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2023-03-31 | Medical Assurances | Not upheld |
| 2023-03-16 | Medical assurance | Some information sent but not all held |