Douglas Promenade Regeneration Costs

Summary

The requester asked for the total spend on the Douglas Promenade Regeneration and a comparison to the original Tynwald approval. The Department of Infrastructure disclosed the approved budget but withheld the current spend figures citing commercial interests and potential harm to future tendering processes.

Key Facts

• Tynwald approval for the Douglas Promenade Regeneration Scheme is £25,730,000.
• The exact amount spent to date is exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The exemption was applied because releasing the figure could be commercially damaging and prejudice future tendering.
• The Department determined that factors favoring withholding information outweighed those favoring disclosure.
• The final cost information will be available only upon conclusion of the whole project.

Data Disclosed

• £25,730,000
• 2021-06-22
• 2021-07-22
• 2021-08-05
• 1861225
• section 30
• section 30(2)(b)

Exemptions Cited

• Section 30 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Economy and commercial interests)
• Section 30(2)(b) (Prejudice-based exemption regarding harm to the economy)

Original Request

How much has been spent in total to date on the Douglas Prom Regeneration and how does this compare to the very original request for project approval and funding that was placed before Tynwald for this project?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

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

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

Our ref: 1861225 2 July 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 22 June 2021 and which states (sic):

"How much has been spent in total to date on the Douglas Prom Regeneration and how does this compare to the very original request for project approval and funding that was placed before Tynwald for this project?"

The answer to your question is as follows: Tynwald approval for the Douglas Promenade Regeneration Scheme is £25,730,000. The spend to date is within the approvals but the exact amount is subject to revision and could be commercially damaging if released before the final account of the contract is settled. We are unable to provide a running cost figure as this information is not static and is being constantly revised. As the project is an ongoing tendered piece of work, the department does not want to prejudice the ability of the contractor or government to participate competitively in any future tendering processes. On conclusion of the whole project, the final cost information should be available. Therefore, the amount spent in respect of the Douglas Promenade Regeneration Scheme Contract is exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Act, which relates to economy and commercial interests. As section 30 is a qualified exemption, it is subject to a public interest test. The public interest must be something that is of serious concern and benefit to the public at large. Factors in favour of disclosure • Transparency and openness by disclosing the information; • Accountability to the general public in respect of public expenditure.

Factors in favour of withholding • Harm to the commercial interests of the contractor; • Reputational damage to the DOI arising from disclosure of the information; • Damage to the working relationship and trust between the contractor and the DOI; • Damage to the economy of the IOM by releasing the information, if in future the tender exercise or a similar tender exercise needed to be repeated this could put some contractors at an unfair advantage, and the current contractor at a disadvantage. • Could prejudice the ability of the department to carry out future tender procedures, early release of commercial information could prejudice our ability to carry out competitive tenders of future work Section 30(2)(b) is a prejudice-based exemption, only applying in instances where harm to the economy would or would be likely to occur. We are satisfied that disclosing the information would likely be harmful to the commercial interests of the contractor, in respect of any similar work that they may tender for in future. We are also satisfied that harm to the economy would be likely to occur to the Isle of Man Government, when the Department invites future tenders for similar work. Taking these factors into account, the Department of Infrastructure has determined that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information. Please quote the reference number 1861225 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.

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

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

Our ref: 1861225 5 August 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 22 June 2021 and which states:

"How much has been spent in total to date on the Douglas Prom Regeneration and how does this compare to the very original request for project approval and funding that was placed before Tynwald for this project?"

Further to your email of 22 July and the completion of a submission to Tynwald, we are now able to provide the following additional information. The original budget was £23,065,900 (July 2018). This was increased to £25,730,000 following a change to the Government’s requirements for the project (July 2020). The total expenditure against the project to the end of July 2021 was £26,748,175. As reported by the Minister in July’s Tynwald, the project is forecast to overspend, and a significant proportion of this overspend is a consequence of Covid-19.

Please quote the reference number 1861225 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.