Locomotive No.16 'Mannin'

Summary

A request was made for details regarding the location, removal reasons, and procurement documents for steam locomotive No.16 'Mannin'. The Department of Infrastructure disclosed the locomotive's current status and removal reason but withheld correspondence and quotes citing commercial confidentiality and excessive cost.

Key Facts

• Locomotive No.16 'Mannin' is currently dismantled with components located within the Isle of Man and UK.
• The locomotive was removed from the Port Erin Train Museum to undertake asbestos removal.
• Over 1000 emails of correspondence exist, but they were withheld due to the significant work required to redact personal data.
• Quotes for work on the locomotive were withheld under section 30 of the Act for reasons of commercial confidentiality.
• The dismantling work tender in June 2020 received seven bidders, while the asbestos removal tender in December 2020 received only one.

Data Disclosed

• 2146169
• 2021-12-14
• 2022-01-12
• 1000
• section 30
• FPN c.06
• IoMR-MSz-QQ-020
• December 2020
• 1
• IoMR-MSz-QQ-016
• June 2020
• 7

Exemptions Cited

• Section 30 of the Act (Commercial Confidentiality)
• Excessive cost (significant number of hours work to sort and redact emails)

Original Request

Dear DOI, Please supply the following information in relation to steam railway locomotive No.16 'Mannin' 1) The current location of No.16 'Mannin' 2) The reason why it was removed from the Port Erin Train Museum. 3) All correspondence between DOI and contractors working on No.16 'Mannin' 4) All quotes received from contractors for work on No.16 'Mannin' 5) Please confirm the tender process that was followed for work on No.16 'Mannin' Thank you.

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

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

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

Our ref: 2146169 12 January 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 14 December 2021 and which states:

"Dear DOI, Please supply the following information in relation to steam railway locomotive No.16 'Mannin' 1) The current location of No.16 'Mannin' 2) The reason why it was removed from the Port Erin Train Museum. 3) All correspondence between DOI and contractors working on No.16 'Mannin' 4) All quotes received from contractors for work on No.16 'Mannin' 5) Please confirm the tender process that was followed for work on No.16 'Mannin' Thank you."

Our response to your request is as follows: 1) Loco Mannin is currently dismantled but the components remain within the IoM and UK. 2) It was removed from the Port Erin museum to undertake asbestos removal as part of our programme to eliminate potentially harmful asbestos from our assets. 3) There are over 1000 emails of correspondence relating to work on No.16 ‘Mannin’, this would require an officer to undertake a significant number of hours work to sort through the emails and redact any personal data within them. We are therefore unable to provide the correspondence. 4) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the information is exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Act for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

5) The work was tendered via the IoM Government Procurement portal in line with financial regulation FPN c.06 General Procurement. The asbestos removal work was tendered via the IoM Government Procurement portal (Ref IoMR-MSz-QQ-020), in line with financial regulations on December 2020. A single bidder submitted a quotation. The work of dismantling and assessing the loco was tendered via the IoM Government Procurement portal (Ref IoMR-MSz-QQ-016), in line with financial regulations in June 2020. Seven bidders submitted quotations.

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.

Factors in favour of withholding • Harm to the commercial interests of contractors; • Damage to the economy of the IOM by releasing the information, if in future the tender exercise needed to be repeated this could put some contractors at an unfair advantage, and / or at a disadvantage • Damage to the working relationship and trust between contractors and the DOI.

In taking these factors into account the Department of Infrastructure determined that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information.

Please quote the reference number 2146169 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

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