Costs incurred in the Dr Tinwell court and employment tribunals

Summary

The requester asked for the total costs incurred by the Attorney General's Chambers in Dr Tinwell's court and employment tribunal cases and confirmation of an out-of-court settlement. The authority disclosed that it does not record advocate time costs, noted a £10,000 cost order against the appellant, and confirmed the employment dispute was settled on confidential terms.

Key Facts

• The Attorney General's Chambers does not record court costs for an advocate's time.
• The High Court ordered the Appellant to pay the Respondent's costs of appeal.
• The assessed cost of appeal was £10,000 plus VAT.
• The employment tribunal case was disposed of on strictly confidential terms prior to determination.
• The request was received on 4 October 2021 and responded to on 19 October 2021.

Data Disclosed

• 2021153
• 2021-10-04
• 2021-10-19
• July 2020
• £10,000
• VAT

Original Request

Dear Attourney General First Deemster Andrew Corlett dismissed an appeal from the health department in july 2020. The Deemster was plainly not happy with the DHSC , which were represented by the Attorney Generals Chambers noting that the proceedings had merely increased costs. Naturally the Attorney Generals Chambers should not be seen to be wasting tax payers money so in this respect please supply the following. The total cost to the tax payer in court costs advocates time ect that the Attourney Generals Chambers have incurred throughout all the various and long running employment tribunals and failed court cases relating to Dr Tinwell. Also again as it is tax payers money . The case has dissapeared off the employment tribunal listings. I ask the Attourney Generals Chambers has the case with Dr Tinwell been settled out of court. In respect of this i do not ask for the settlement figures just confirmation that the case has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. As it is tax payers money openness and transparency should rightfully be shown , so i can see no reason for not disclosing what has been asked for.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Attorney General's Chambers 2nd floor Belgravia House Circular Road, Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 1AE Telephone: (01624) 685452 E-mail: attgen@gov.im

Our ref: 2021153 19 October 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 4 October 2021 and which states:

"Dear Attorney General First Deemster Andrew Corlett dismissed an appeal from the health department in July 2020. The Deemster was plainly not happy with the DHSC, which were represented by the Attorney Generals Chambers noting that the proceedings had merely increased costs. Naturally the Attorney Generals Chambers should not be seen to be wasting tax payer’s money so in this respect please supply the following. The total cost to the tax payer in court costs advocates time ect that the Attorney Generals Chambers have incurred throughout all the various and long running employment tribunals and failed court cases relating to Dr Tinwell. Also again as it is tax payer’s money. The case has disappeared off the employment tribunal listings. I ask the Attorney Generals Chambers has the case with Dr Tinwell been settled out of court. In respect of this i do not ask for the settlement figures just confirmation that the case has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. As it is tax payers money openness and transparency should rightfully be shown, so I can see no reason for not disclosing what has been asked for."

Our response to your request is provided in two parts for ease: Your Question – Part 1: The total cost to the tax payer in court costs advocates time ect that the Attorney Generals Chambers have incurred throughout all the various and long running employment tribunals and failed court cases relating to Dr Tinwell. Our Response – Part 1: The Attorney General’s Chambers does not record court costs for an advocate’s time: nor does the court itself raise any costs when determining cases before it. In the case to which you refer the High Court made an order that the Appellant (which was represented by advocates from the Attorney General’s Chambers but which was not

itself the Attorney General’s Chambers) was ordered to pay the Respondent’s costs of appeal which were assessed in the amount of £10,000 plus VAT. Your Question – Part 2: The case has disappeared off the employment tribunal listings. I ask the Attorney Generals Chambers has the case with Dr Tinwell been settled out of court. In respect of this I do not ask for the settlement figures just confirmation that the case has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. As it is tax payers money openness and transparency should rightfully be shown, so I can see no reason for not disclosing what has been asked for Our Response – Part 2: For this part of your question, the Attorney General’s Chambers can confirm that prior to the proceedings before the Tribunal being determined, the parties disposed of matters relating to the dispute on what they both agreed were strictly confidential terms.

Please quote the reference number 2021153 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.