Prison applicant vetting

Summary

The requester asked for prison officer vetting policies, a specific letter from the Prison Governor, and refusal statistics for the last five years. The Department of Home Affairs provided links to general recruitment policies but confirmed that the specific letter does not exist and the refusal data is not recorded.

Key Facts

• The Prison and Probation Service has no specific vetting policy beyond general OHR recruitment policies.
• The requested letter from the Prison Governor challenging vetting practices does not exist.
• Data regarding applicants refused on security grounds over the last five years is not recorded.
• The response was issued on 6 December 2021 regarding a request received on 10 November 2021.

Data Disclosed

• 2080777
• 2021-11-10
• 6 December 2021
• last five years
• 01624 694313
• 01624 621298

Original Request

Please provide (1) the policies and procedures in relation to the vetting of potential staff applying for the role of Prison Officer within the Isle of Man Prison and Probation Service, (2) A letter written by the Prison Governor in the last month, to the Prison Security Department that challenged the practice of staff vetting at the application stage by the Prison Security Department and (3) confirm the number of applicants that have been refused on security grounds at initial application by the Prison Security Department in each of the last five years.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Chief Executive's Office DHA Headquarters Tromode, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 5AP

Telephone: (01624) 694313 Fax: (01624) 621298 Web address: www.gov.im/dha Email: GeneralEnquiries.DHA@dha.gov.im

Our ref: 2080777 6 December 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on the 10th of November 2021 stating:

"Please provide (1) the policies and procedures in relation to the vetting of potential staff applying for the role of Prison Officer within the Isle of Man Prison and Probation Service, (2) A letter written by the Prison Governor in the last month, to the Prison Security Department that challenged the practice of staff vetting at the application stage by the Prison Security Department and (3) confirm the number of applicants that have been refused on security grounds at initial application by the Prison Security Department in each of the last five years."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested. Some of the information is either not existing or not recorded I have detailed below the information that is held. 1) Please note that the Prison and Probation Service does not have any specific policy or procedure in addition to the ones made available by OHR available at the following links: https://hr.gov.im/media/1185/recruitment-policy-2021-final.pdf https://hr.gov.im/media/1166/urn46recruitmentandselectionp.pdf 2) The record requested does not exist; and 3) This data is not recorded.

Please quote the reference number 2080777 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.