Hourly operational cost of sea terminal

Summary

A request for the hourly operational cost of the Isle of Man Sea Terminal when open versus closed was partially fulfilled, as the Department of Infrastructure stated the data is not recorded in a format allowing for hourly breakdowns. The authority provided total annual costs for security, energy, maintenance, and cleaning for the 2020/21 financial year instead.

Key Facts

• The Sea Terminal is a government building open only for specific purposes like sailings or facility access, not as a general public facility.
• Hourly operational costs cannot be calculated because staffing and administrative costs are not broken down by hour or specific building.
• Water and building rates invoices are not held by the Department of Infrastructure as they are sent directly to the Treasury for payment.
• Security costs provided cover the Sea Terminal and other harbours.
• Some energy costs are invoiced directly to companies holding lease contracts within the building.

Data Disclosed

• 2064721
• 2021-11-01
• 2021-11-26
• 20/21 financial year
• £732,163.39
• £137,582.44
• £163,707
• £159,744

Exemptions Cited

• Information not held in a format that allows for the requested breakdown without considerable analysis and compilation
• Invoices for water and building rates not retained by the Department (not 'held' for FOI purposes)

Original Request

What is the hourly operational cost of the sea terminal being 1) open to the public 2) closed to the public ?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

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

Contact: FOI Response Team/HG/CJ/PN Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 2064721 26 November 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 1 November 2021 and which states:

"What is the hourly operational cost of the sea terminal being 1) open to the public 2) closed to the public ?" The Sea Terminal is a Government building, open for specific purposes at specific times and is not a general public facility; it is open when sailings are scheduled or the facilities such as Costa, the Welcome Centre etc are open. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance some of the information is not kept in a format which would allow us to answer the question, in the way you have requested, without considerable analysis and compilation. For example, staffing costs have been given for cleaning the building, but there are also administrative staff costs which cannot be broken down because the same staff also look after many other Government properties. It is also not possible to give a breakdown of costs per hour as the data is not recorded in a way which would allow this. Clearly however, costs would be lower when the building is closed; heating costs would be reduced, less cleaning would be required etc. For the above reasons, please note that the following information cannot give a full and accurate picture. The information we are able to provide is shown below. Security costs for the 20/21 financial year total £732,163.39, although it should be noted that some of this expenditure also covers security work at other harbours.

Energy – some costs are invoiced to the companies that hold lease contracts within the building £137,582.44 Maintenance £163,707 Caretaking & Cleaning £159,744

While the Department also pays water and building rates, copies of these invoices are not retained by the Department of Infrastructure and are therefore not ‘held’ for the purpose of Freedom Of Information. There are sent directly to Treasury for payment. If these are of interest, they may be available via a new Freedom of Information request to Treasury. Please quote the reference number 2064721 in any future communications.

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