Coronavirus Daily Briefings

Summary

The requester asked for details on external suppliers, costs, and justification for using outside services for the Isle of Man's coronavirus daily briefings. The Cabinet Office disclosed the background reasons for the decision, including the need for a centralized feed and remote capabilities, but did not provide specific supplier names or costs in the provided text.

Key Facts

• Briefings commenced on Monday 16 March 2020 with all island media outlets invited.
• Initial briefings required each outlet to manage their own audio and visual equipment, causing logistical issues.
• A lack of a centralized feed prevented journalists from hearing questions from other outlets.
• An external supplier was chosen to provide a professional, single video and audio source for all platforms.
• The decision was influenced by the need to adhere to social distancing and operate remotely.

Data Disclosed

• 16 March 2020
• 24 August 2020
• 27 August 2020
• 1442785
• 3 FM
• Energy FM

Original Request

I write to request the following information specifically regarding the recent Government Coronavirus Daily briefing broadcasts: - The names of the external suppliers employed to provide the broadcasting services for the daily briefings. - The total cost to the taxpayer for employing the services of external suppliers to facilitate the daily briefing broadcasts. - Why it was deemed necessary to employ the services of external suppliers at the taxpayers cost to facilitate the daily briefings. - What value was added by employing the services of external suppliers instead of using existing facilities within the IOM government. - What analysis was done of the availability and suitability of appropriate employee skill-sets and equipment already existing within IOM government prior to employing the services of external suppliers. - The number of government employees with skill-sets that could have been utilised to provide broadcasting facilities in-house that were not gainfully redeployed to other, more appropriate departments and the total cost to the taxpayer of having these staff members furloughed. - The policy in place for who controlled which news outlets were allowed to ask questions of ministers at the briefings, how these questions were vetted for suitability and if control of the press pool questions was assumed by an external supplier how was impartiality ensured?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 1442785 27 August 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request received on 24 August 2020 which states:

"I write to request the following information specifically regarding the recent Government Coronavirus Daily briefing broadcasts: - The names of the external suppliers employed to provide the broadcasting services for the daily briefings. - The total cost to the taxpayer for employing the services of external suppliers to facilitate the daily briefing broadcasts. - Why it was deemed necessary to employ the services of external suppliers at the taxpayers cost to facilitate the daily briefings. - What value was added by employing the services of external suppliers instead of using existing facilities within the IOM government. - What analysis was done of the availability and suitability of appropriate employee skill-sets and equipment already existing within IOM government prior to employing the services of external suppliers. - The number of government employees with skill-sets that could have been utilised to provide broadcasting facilities in-house that were not gainfully redeployed to other, more appropriate departments and the total cost to the taxpayer of having these staff members furloughed. - The policy in place for who controlled which news outlets were allowed to ask questions of ministers at the briefings, how these questions were vetted for suitability and if control of the press pool questions was assumed by an external supplier how was impartiality ensured?"

In order to provide advice and assistance, we have detailed below the background regarding the use of external suppliers for the Isle of Man Government’s coronavirus briefings. The briefings commenced on Monday 16 March 2020 and each of the Island’s media outlets was invited to attend. In these initial briefings, each outlet was responsible for 2 its own audio and visual output, rather than utilising a centrally supplied feed operated by the Isle of Man Government.
There were two issues with approach. Firstly, it required representatives from each outlet to transport and setup their own equipment at Government Office for each briefing, which became time consuming and inconvenient. Secondly, the lack of a centralised feed posed problems for a traditional press conference setup in that, with each outlet being responsible for its own feed, it was not possible for the audience of each outlet to clearly hear what was being asked and said by journalists from other outlets. By way of example, a journalist from 3 FM would speak in to their microphone to ask a question, but this would not be properly picked up by the microphone for Energy FM. This caused understandable frustration for all parties. An accessible, reliable and professional approach to the press conference format was deemed essential. It was clear from the outset that the briefings were likely to continue for some time and that they were likely to grow in prominence as a trusted and up to date source of information for the community on the Island’s response to the pandemic. A further consideration was the knowledge that it was highly likely to become necessary to operate elements of the briefings remotely to adhere to social distancing and other restrictions. In such an eventuality it would not be possible for individual media outlets to setup and operate their equipment in person. As a result of these factors, a decision was taken to use a single video and audio source and to make this available to all media outlets. So as not to favour one outlet over another, a decision was taken to approach an external supplier which had the appropriate equipment, expertise, capability and capacity to provide a professional and fit for purpose broadcast service of the quality required for television, radio and simultaneous online video streaming across multiple platforms and outlets. This included the ability to provide a service that could flex to the unpredictable nature of the timing and frequency of the briefings (such as short notice evening briefings) with a round-the-clock, ready to go, on-call service. Greenlight Television and ELS were selected and this modified, professional studio approach commenced on Tuesday 24 March. It meant that the briefings were of broadcast quality for the Island’s three radio stations, for television – such as BBC North West and ITV Granada – and that a feed could be provided to all media outlets for online streaming via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. When it was no longer viable or safe to have journalists physically present for the briefings, they instead joined the broadcasts remotely via Zoom which was able to be fed in to the single feed by ELS and Greenlight Television. Please find detailed below the answers to your questions. 3 Question 1. The names of the external suppliers employed to provide the broadcasting services for the daily briefings. Two external suppliers provided services to facilitate the Isle of Man Government’s coronavirus briefings: Event Lighting Services (ELS) and Greenlight Television. Question 2. The total cost to the taxpayer for employing the services of external suppliers to facilitate the daily briefing broadcasts. ELS and Greenlight Television provided services for the coronavirus briefings held between 24 March and 30 July 2020 at a total cost of £65,441.00. Question 3. Why it was deemed necessary to employ the services of external suppliers at the taxpayers cost to facilitate the daily briefings. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested; the Cabinet Office does not hold the information that the applicant has requested (section 11(3)(a) of the Act). Question 4. What value was added by employing the services of external suppliers instead of using existing facilities within the IOM government. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested; the Cabinet Office does not hold the information that the applicant has requested (section 11(3)(a) of the Act). Question 5. What analysis was done of the availability and suitability of appropriate employee skill-sets and equipment already existing within IOM government prior to employing the services of external suppliers. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested; the Cabinet Office does not hold the information that the applicant has requested (section 11(3)(a) of the Act). Question 6. The number of government employees with skill-sets that could have been utilised to provide broadcasting facilities in-house that were not gainfully redeployed to other, more appropriate departments and the total cost to the taxpayer of having these staff members furloughed. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested; the Cabinet Office does not hold the information that the applicant has requested (section 11(3)(a) of the Act). 4 No public servants were furloughed, although many were redeployed to other areas of Government to ensure the continued operation of essential public services. Question 7. The policy in place for who controlled which news outlets were allowed to ask questions of ministers at the briefings, how these questions were vetted for suitability and if control of the press pool questions was assumed by an external supplier how was impartiality ensured? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested; the Cabinet Office does not hold the information that the applicant has requested (section 11(3)(a) of the Act). There was no vetting whatsoever of questions from journalists. Questions were asked ‘live’ and were unknown to the spokespeople at the podium or to officials beforehand.

Please quote the reference number 1442785 in any future communications.

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I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely