Northern Ireland trip

Summary

A request was made for costs and expense receipts regarding a trip by the Chief Minister and Education Minister to the British and Irish Council in June 2021. The Cabinet Office disclosed a detailed breakdown of travel and accommodation costs but withheld specific expense receipts citing exemptions for personal data.

Key Facts

• The trip involved the Chief Minister, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, and two officers.
• Total disclosed costs include airfare, accommodation, meals, and PPE for the June 2021 event.
• Some flight costs totaling over £1,100 are pending refunds due to abandoned bookings.
• Specific expense receipts were withheld as they contain personal data of individuals who are not the requester.
• The response was issued on 24 June 2021, eight days after the request was received.

Data Disclosed

• £80.16
• £9.53
• £500.92
• £64.45
• £1190.68
• £560
• £380
• £13
• £8.85
• £128.86
• £233.19
• £404.82
• £75
• £74.20
• £226.47
• £224
• £501.08
• £399.96
• £213.27
• 9 June 2021
• 10 June 2021
• 11 June 2021
• 12 June 2021
• 16 June 2021
• 24 June 2021
• 4 people
• 3 people
• 1 person
• 1846294

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information)
• Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (data protection principles)
• Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (conditions for lawful processing)

Original Request

I seek the publication of the costs associated with the Chief Minister, Education Minister and civil servants attending the British and Irish Council in June. I also seek the publication of any expense receipts submitted by any of the travelling party.

Data Tables (3)

Full Response Text

I seek the publication of the costs associated with the Chief Minister, Education Minister and civil servants attending the British and Irish Council in June. I also seek the publication of any expense receipts submitted by any of the travelling party.

Costs

The costs associated with the Chief Minister, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture and two officers attending the British Irish Council in June 2021 can be broken down as follows.

Item ref. Date Description Cost Number of people 1 9 June 2021 COVID-19 PPEi £80.16

2 10 June 2021 Refreshments at IOM £9.53
3

Air fare IOM-LHR
£500.92 4 people 4

Meal in transit at LHR £64.45 4 people 5

Air fare LHR-BHD £1190.68 4 people 6

Accommodation

£560 4 people

7 11 June 2021 Accommodation in Belfast £380 4 people

8 12 June 2021 Taxi to BHD
£13 1 person 9

Refreshments at BHD £8.85 1 person 10

Air fare BHD-LHR £128.86 1 person 11

Air fare LHR-IOM £233.19 1 person 12

Taxi to BHD £13 3 people 13

Air fare BHD-LHR £404.82 3 people 14

Train LHR to London £75 3 people 15

Meal in transit £74.20 3 people 16

Train London to Lancaster £226.47 3 people 17

Ferry Heysham to Isle of Man £224 3 people

Costs pending refunds

In addition to the above costs, the below table sets out the costs of the flights originally booked, which had to be abandoned due to reasons out of Isle of Man Government’s control. Please note that refunds for these costs are currently being sought.

Item ref. Date Description Cost Number of people 18 10 June 2021 Air fare LHR-BHD £501.08 4 people 19 12 June 2021 Air fare BHD-MANii £399.96 3 people 20 12 June 2021 Air fare MAN-IOM £213.27 3 people

iNot all PPE purchased was used during the British Irish Council; therefore the surplus will be used for future engagement activities.

iiThe Manchester route was originally booked for all four attendees. However, due to unforeseen circumstances this was changed to three attendees with one attendee coming back through Heathrow. The change was made over the phone and Aer Lingus did not provide a new booking reference or receipt.

20/05/2021 British Airways https://www.britishairways.com/travel/book/public/en_gb/confirmation 2/2 6. Before travelling, everyone must to be taken on days 2 and 8 of quarantine. 7. You're legally required to wear a face covering on public transport in the UK. 8. You can opt into if quarantining in England. 9. Di×erent rules apply for international travel from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Failure to comply with these measures is a criminal offence. Fines may apply. View the government's before departure. Share this information with anyone travelling on this booking. © British Airways - all rights reserved book coronavirus tests Test to Release coronavirus travel checklist Disability assistance

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

Our ref: 1846294 24 June 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 16 June 2021 and which states:

"I seek the publication of the costs associated with the Chief Minister, Education Minister and civil servants attending the British and Irish Council in June. I also seek the publication of any expense receipts submitted by any of the travelling party." Please find attached the information requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information). The reasons why that exemption applies are that: • The Cabinet Office is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and • The Cabinet Office 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 Cabinet Office can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met. Please quote the reference number 1846294 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