Subsidies to Loganair

Summary

The request sought details on subsidies paid to Loganair since March 2020, to which the Treasury confirmed it made no direct payments but approved up to £2.65 million for the Department of Infrastructure to pay, while withholding confirmation of actual disbursements by other authorities.

Key Facts

• The Treasury made no direct or indirect payments to Loganair between 1 March 2020 and 11 November 2020.
• The Treasury approved expenditure of up to £2,650,676 by the Department of Infrastructure for subsidies to Loganair.
• The Treasury cannot confirm the actual amount paid by the Department of Infrastructure to the airline.
• Information regarding expenditure by other public authorities is withheld under Schedule 1, paragraph 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The request was received on 13 November 2020 and the response was issued on 17 December 2020.

Data Disclosed

• 1 March 2020
• 11 November 2020
• 13 November 2020
• 17 December 2020
• £2,650,676
• 1558909

Exemptions Cited

• Schedule 1, paragraph 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (information held of Government's Financial Accounting System relating to expenditure by another public authority)

Original Request

Since 1st March 2020, how much has been paid by the Isle of Man Government in relation to direct or indirect subsidies or support to Loganair in order to maintin air routes to the Isle of Man either directly from Treasury or approved by Treasury via either the Department of Enterprise or Department of Infrastructure.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Seyrsnys Fysseree

The Treasury Government Office, Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 3PU

Telephone: (01624) 685605 Email: FOI.Treasury@gov.im

Government Website: www.gov.im

Our ref: 1558909 17 December 2020

Dear ###

Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the “Act”) I write further to your request which was received on 13 November 2020 and which states:

"Since 1st March 2020, how much has been paid by the Isle of Man Government in relation to direct or indirect subsidies or support to Loganair in order to maintin air routes to the Isle of Man either directly from Treasury or approved by Treasury via either the Department of Enterprise or Department of Infrastructure." The Treasury did not made any payments to Loganair in the form of direct or indirect subsidies or support in the period 1 March 2020 to 11 November 2020 (the date of your request). Under Schedule 1, paragraph 8 of the Act, the Treasury is not authorised to disclose information it holds which is held of Government’s Financial Accounting System which relates to expenditure by another public authority: taking this into account, we are unable to confirm any payments that have been made by other public authorities, including those listed in your application, to Loganair during the period. I can advise you that the Treasury has considered a number of applications from the Department of Infrastructure in the period between 1 March 2020 to 11 November 2020 relating to the payment of direct or indirect subsidies or support to Loganair. In respect of those applications, the Treasury approved expenditure of up to £2,650,676 by the Department, however, we cannot confirm the amount that has since been paid by the Department to the airline in respect of these applications.

Please quote the reference number 1558909 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 me and I 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 me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely