Repatriation

Summary

The requester sought details on the Comis Hotel's use for repatriation, including service specifications, inspection dates, and financial breakdowns. The Department of Infrastructure disclosed the contract start date, total payments made, and occupancy figures, but withheld specific fee details and granular data citing commercial interests and practical refusal grounds.

Key Facts

• The contract with the Comis Hotel for repatriation services began on 15 April 2020.
• A total of 112 individuals stayed at the hotel, comprising 110 adults, 1 child, and 1 baby.
• The Department of Infrastructure paid £94,830.70 to the Comis Hotel as of 8 July 2020.
• There was no cost to the Government for the fencing around the Comis Hotel.
• The Department for Enterprise made the initial approach to hotels, not the Department of Infrastructure.

Data Disclosed

• 15 April 2020
• 8 July 2020
• 7 July 2020
• £94,830.70
• 112 people
• 110 adults
• 1 child
• 1 baby

Exemptions Cited

• Section 30 (Commercial interests)
• Section 11(3) practical refusal reason (b) referencing s8(3) (Undue cost/creation of information)

Original Request

1. In response to a previous FOI request you told me and I quote, "In respect of the use of the Comis hotel as a place of designated accommodation for returning residents, consideration was given to ensuring that the hotel had adequate and appropriate facilities for all guests including those with dietary requirements, mobility issues, and children. These were dealt with through the service specification with the hotel." Please supply me with a copy of the service specification. 2. In response to. previous FOI request you told me, and I quote, "following visits with relevant parties, risk control measures were identified and implemented as required and continued to be considered throughout the use of the Comis as a place of designated accommodation for returning residents." According to your records what were the dates of the visits and who were the relevant parties? 3. When was the final inspection of the Comis Hotel carried out to ensure its suitability as a detention centre for returning residents? 4. Who carried out such inspection? 5. Did the inspection include the exercise area? Please supply me with a copy of the report submitted regarding any inspection

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 1355441 10 July 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 7 July 2020 and which states (sic), numbered for ease of reference:

"I am requesting the following information in respect of the IoM residents returning to the IoM and being quarantined in the Comis Hotel: 1. Which hotels were approached for the scheme? 2. On what date were they approached? 3. When was the Comis Hotel appointed? 4. What was the amount per person per day agreed with the Comis Hotel? 5. What is the total amount that the government paid the Comis Hotel to date? Itemise the amounts by categories e.g. 6. Amount for accommodation and food 7. Security (exclude the police presence on day one) 8. Fencing (now being used by the Comis Hotel) 9. Coaches 10. Anything else? 11. How many individuals have stayed at the Comis Hotel? 12. How many people days in total? 13. How many people by week? 14. Income received by returnees for their stay at the Comis Hotel? To include those who paid in full and those who are paying in stages/monthly."

Our response to your questions is as follows. 1. and 2. The Department for Enterprise made the initial approach to hotels for the provision of this service; you may therefore wish to submit a separate FOI request to them. 3. The contract with the Comis Hotel started on 15 April 2020. 5. The total amount that the Department of Infrastructure paid to the Comis Hotel as at 8 July 2020 was £94,830.70.

4, 6, 7 and 9. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in these instances the Department believes that details of fees are exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Act. Section 30 of the Act applies in instances where it would prejudice the commercial interests of an organisation(s). We are satisfied that disclosing the cost may give any contractors who subsequently submit to any future tenders an advantage over other contractors. Section 30 of the Act is a qualified exemption and therefore subject to both public interest and prejudice tests. These are summarised below: Factors in favour of disclosure: • Transparency of Government spending Factors in favour of maintaining the exemption: • While commercial sensitivity may reduce over time, the pandemic is still a live situation, and the information therefore remains current. • Disclosure would affect the organisations’ abilities to participate competitively in commercial activities via any future tender processes whether for provision of the same or other services. • The concerns of the participating organisations are demonstrated by the inclusion of Confidentiality and Non-Dislosure Clauses in contracts. • Disclosure would cause reputational damage to the Department of Infrastructure with contractors. • Disclosure would affecting future working relationships because of lack of confidence of businesses in the Department’s ability to maintain confidentiality. • This would further affect the ability to tender competitively where public funds are involved, thus adversely affecting the Island’s economy. In taking these factors into account the Department determined that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information. 8. There was no cost to Government for the fencing around the Comis Hotel. 10. The Department is unable to supply information that has not clearly been specified. 11. 112 people stayed at the Comis Hotel; 110 adults, 1 child and 1 baby. 12, 13 and 14. Section 11(3) practical refusal reason (b) of the Act referencing s8(3), states that “a public authority is not required to create or derive information from the information that it holds; undertake research into, or analysis of, information that it holds; or undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds”.

The Department does not record the information you have requested in these 3 questions in a format which allows us to provide the breakdown you are asking for.
In addition, for question 14 we would not release information which, when combined with a small amount of publically available information, may enable the identification of some of the individuals concerned. This would make the information absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act. The reasons why that exemption applies are that: 1. The Department is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and 2. The Department is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Department can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6. In this case, none of those conditions have been met Please quote the reference number 1355441 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact us and we will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision.

More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact us. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. We will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

FOI Response Team

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team/SM/NB/MF Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 1420121 8 September 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 12 August 2020 and your request for an Internal Review received 25 August which gives your reason for requesting a review as:

"Your decision to refuse me a copy of the service specification between the DOI and the Comis Hotel"

Further to your conversation with Mrs Farmer today, we can confirm that we have sought and received approval to disclose the Service Specification extracted from the contract with the Comis Hotel and are pleased to attach a copy.

Please quote the reference number 1420121 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact us and we will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.

In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact us. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. We will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

FOI Response Team

EXTRACT FROM CONTRACT WITH COMIS HOTEL SCHEDULE 1 SPECIFICATION The Comis Hotel and Golf Resort agrees to provide the following services and facilities to enable the effective quarantine of Isle of Man residents being repatriated from the UK. Allocation of Rooms • The Hotel will ensure that over any two (2) week period there are not less than sixty (60) Rooms available for use in the provision of the Services. • The Rooms will be of a standard as would be expected of a four star (4*) hotel and on a par with those offered to other guests. • The Rooms will be situated together in an area of the Hotel which is not used by other guests of the Hotel and which can be sufficiently segregated from other guest areas. • The Rooms will be on the 100, 200, 300 and 400 Blocks of the Hotel only. • On Monday of each week the Department will provide to the Hotel details of: o the number of Rooms; o the names of each Guest and the grouping for each Room to include requirements for interconnected/accessible rooms/cots/highchairs; o details of dietary requirements/allergies for each Guest; for each Guest that is to arrive on the Wednesday following the relevant Monday. • On each Wednesday the Hotel will provide to the Department the keys for the relevant Rooms which are to be made available for new Guests on that day and who were notified to the Hotel on the Monday preceding. The Department will distribute the keys to the Guests on or before their arrival at the Hotel. • The Department will provide relevant updates to the Hotel detailing the anticipated stay of each Guest. Although it is anticipated that each Guest will stay at the Hotel for fourteen (14) nights, this period may be extended or reduced as agreed or directed by the Department. Rooms The Hotel will ensure that: • No member of its staff enters into any of the Rooms once they have been allocated to a Guest save for in the case of an emergency or with the permission of the Department. • It has an appropriate number of highchairs and cots available for use in the Rooms where necessary. • There is a vacuum cleaner available for Guests to use. There should be at least one (1) vacuum cleaner available on each floor for this purpose.

• Each Room has free Wifi availability. • The Hotel offers a facility whereby Guests can register a credit or debit card by phone to pay for additional services. These additional services must include: o The provision of snacks and drinks – these are to be delivered and left outside the Room. o The provision of essential items (e.g. nappies) – this service must be available for providing such supplies at least once per week. o It provides a laundry service for use by the Guests. If this service is requested by a Guest, laundry bags must be provided in order that the Guest may leave their laundry outside of their Room. Meals Any guests who have dietary requirements are required to provide the Hotel with prior notice of their needs to ensure that they can be adequately catered for. The Hotel will provide three (3) meals a day to each Guest during their stay at the Hotel as follows: Breakfast The breakfast menu will be made available to each room at 6pm each evening to enable guests to order breakfast for the following morning. Guests will be able to choose from: • Choice of orange or apple juice • Selection of freshly prepared fruit • Selection of breakfast cereals including Special K, Cornflakes, Weetabix, Muesli or Porridge • Croissants with jam, marmalade and butter • Brown or white bread • Freshly prepared choice of eggs (poached, scrambled, boiled or fried) • Bacon Guests will be able to specify what time between 7am and 10am they would like their order to be delivered. Lunch The lunch menu will be available to each room no later than 6pm each evening to enable guests to place their order for the following day. Guests will be able to choose from a selection of: • Freshly prepared sandwiches • Crisps • Fruit or / Flapjack bar. Guests will be able to specify what time between midday and 2pm they would like their order to be delivered. Dinner The dinner menu will be made available to each room at 6pm each evening to enable guests to order dinner for the following evening. Guests will be able to choose from a selection of starters, main dishes and desserts. Guests will be able to specify what time between 6pm and 8pm they would like their order to be delivered.

In rooms where children are present guests may request their dinner at an earlier time if they so wish. Hospitality The Hotel shall provide each room with a hospitality tray appropriate for the number of guests in each room. This tray will be replenished at least every (3) days. This will include a box of tea bags, jar of coffee and sugar / sweetener. The hotel will ensure fresh milk is delivered each day to each room. All meals and hospitality items are to be delivered and left outside of the Room. Housekeeping So as to ensure that the quarantine measures are adhered to the Hotel’s housekeeping team are not permitted to enter guest rooms. To ensure that each guest has the ability to self-clean their rooms the Hotel is to ensure that appropriate cleaning products will be available on request. Bin bags and laundry bags ar

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