Department of Education, Sport and Culture
617 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 38.1%
The Freedom of Information requests to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture reveal an authority deeply entangled in the controversy of the St Thomas' Primary School co-location proposal. A significant portion of the casework (over 14 related cases) focuses on this issue, where the Department frequently employed a 'practical refusal' or 'already public' defense to withhold decision-making correspondence (e.g., 354839, 354847), while simultaneously disclosing granular data on pupil catchments (354959) and the fact that the school paid no rent (467435). This pattern suggests a strategy of transparency on operational metrics but obstruction on political and strategic deliberations. The data also exposes a complex relationship between the state and religious groups; while the Department confirmed regular visits by the Child Evangelism Fellowship (354861), it actively blocked access for the abortion reform group HEAR (354831), highlighting a selective gatekeeping of external influences in schools.
Key Cases
Case 354861 — Reveals the systematic presence of the Child Evangelism Fellowship in Isle of Man schools, providing a detailed breakdown of visit frequencies, which raises questions about the separation of church and state in public education.
Case 354831 — Discloses a specific incident where the abortion reform group HEAR attempted to access pupils at St Mary's School and was declined, offering a rare glimpse into the Department's vetting of controversial external groups.
Case 361143 — Highlights a significant administrative error and subsequent correction regarding public objections to the St Thomas' co-location (initially 403 signatures, corrected to 413), demonstrating the volatility of the consultation process.
Case 467435 — Confirms that St Thomas' School paid zero rent to the Department for the building, parking, and playgrounds over three years, a crucial financial fact in the debate over the school's viability and the co-location proposal.
Case 354883 — Discloses that eight unqualified teachers were employed in training roles across four secondary schools, raising concerns about the quality of education and staffing standards during the 2016/17 academic year.
Related FOI Stories
The St Thomas' Co-location Saga — #354839, #354847, #354849, #358135, #354867
Home Education and Legal Enforcement — #354833, #354857, #354875, #358137, #354911
School Performance Data and Statistical Gaps — #354791, #354801, #354809, #354815, #354925
Religious Influence and External Visits — #354851, #354831, #354861, #354877, #512133
Staffing, Employment, and Discipline — #354805, #354813, #354883, #354945, #354947
| Date | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-04-17 | Villa Marina operation | All information sent |
| A request was made for detailed profit and loss accounts for Villa Marina and the Gaiety Theatre covering the years 2019 to 2023. The Department of Education, Sport and Culture disclosed all requested information, providing financial breakdowns for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. | ||
| 2024-04-15 | Cinema booker | Upheld - full |
| A request for fees paid to the Broadway Cinema film booker from 2020 to 2024 was initially refused under commercial interest exemptions but was fully upheld following an internal review, resulting in the disclosure of gross and net payment amounts. | ||
| 2024-03-28 | Reception numbers | All information sent |
| 2024-03-27 | Relocation benefits awarded | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for 10-year spending data on various relocation and recruitment benefits for the Department of Education, Sport and Culture. The authority responded that it does not hold information prior to the 2014-2017 period and could not provide specific figures for interview travel costs, limiting the response to the 2017-2024 fiscal years. | ||
| 2024-03-21 | Cost of fire service callouts within schools | All information sent |
| 2024-03-19 | Sex and Relationships | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2024-03-19 | Number Of Toilet Breaks Allowed | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2024-03-18 | FOI curriculum framework | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2024-03-14 | Out of catchment requests | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-03-14 | SPC Centres | All information sent |
| 2024-03-14 | Miscellaneous Pupil Data 2023-24 | All information sent |
| 2024-03-12 | Primary School numbers of pupils and capacities 2024 | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-03-07 | Glencrutchery swimming pool | All information sent |
| 2024-02-27 | Inclusion Training | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-02-26 | Pupil Exclusion Data 2020-2023 | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-02-22 | draft literacy framework | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2024-02-20 | Accident Logs | All information sent |
| 2024-02-14 | Head Teachers Report to Governing Body CYB Primary School | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-02-13 | Schools with Specialist Toilets | All information sent |
| 2024-02-13 | Costs of Access Control System Upgrade in Schools and UCM | Information not held |
| 2024-02-09 | Data subject access requests | All information sent |
| 2024-02-08 | Key Stage 3 - Timetables and Setting Practice | All information sent |
| 2024-02-08 | Ambulance call out to schools | All information sent |
| 2024-02-06 | Percentage of looked after children in full time education | All information sent |
| 2024-01-30 | Freedom of Information Request - NSC Annual Budget Allocation | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-01-30 | Castle Rushen High School & Swimming Project Scope and Meeting Minutes | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-01-26 | RSE curriculum | Information not held |
| 2024-01-25 | Swimming Pool | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-01-22 | Financial Information of DESC | All information sent |
| 2024-01-18 | Halle Orchestra Costs | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2024-01-16 | Teachers Pay Scales | Information not held |
| 2024-01-12 | Numbers of unqualified teachers in Secondary Schools | All information sent |
| 2024-01-08 | Year 7 Baseline Assessments 2021-2023 | All information sent |
| 2024-01-04 | Correspondence with KKP re Pool Report | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-01-04 | Graduate Salaries | Information not held |
| 2023-12-29 | The Citing of 3 Containors at the Douglas Bowl Car Park. | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-12-13 | Education Council Minutes | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-12-13 | Budget | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-12-12 | University Destination Data | All information sent |
| 2023-12-06 | Castletown | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-12-04 | Villa Gaiety Income from productions | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-11-27 | Latest Financial Accounts for the National Sports Centre | Upheld - partial |
| 2023-11-07 | University Applications 2023 & 2024 - Contextual Data & Information | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-11-07 | SEN needs | Request lapsed - requested information not provided |
| 2023-11-01 | Secondary School External Examination Results 2023 | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2023-10-18 | Behaviour Points Given at Ballakermeen High School | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-10-10 | Cctv | All information sent |
| 2023-10-10 | GCSE and A Level Examination Attainment 2023 | All information sent |
| 2023-10-09 | UCM monitoring staffing & quality | Not upheld |
| 2023-10-09 | Secondary schools & UCM staffing budgets, numbers and enrolments | Some information sent but not all held |