Mountain Road Closure

Summary

A request was made for all correspondence between Department of Infrastructure staff and media outlets regarding the Mountain Road closure. The authority responded that the information is not held, as relevant officers confirmed no such correspondence took place.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 2022-01-20 and responded to on 2022-02-03.
• The Department of Infrastructure stated it does not hold the requested information.
• The Highways Liaison Officer and Regulations and Events Officer confirmed no media correspondence occurred regarding the closure.
• The request covered various electronic messaging services including WhatsApp, Signal, and SMS.
• The closure was intended to enable improvements ahead of TT 2022.

Data Disclosed

• 2022-01-20
• 2022-02-03
• 2205125
• 2022
• TT 2022

Original Request

Hi, I request a copy of all correspondence between Department of Infrastructure staff and media outlets about the Mountain Road closure. By "correspondence", I mean written records (in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act) which might be on email or other electronic messaging services (such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, SMS/text messaging, or any other electronic messaging services not identified here). By "Department of Infrastructure staff" I mean the Minister and all people working on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure (without regard to whether they are employees, contractors, or have other contractual arrangements, explicit or implied) By "media outlets" I mean organisations which report news, trading under names such as Manx Radio, Isle of Man Newspapers, Gef the Mongoose, 3FM, EnergyFM, or others. By "the Mountain Road closure" I mean the event described online here: https://www.gov.im/news/2022/jan/20/mountain-road-closures-to-enable-improvements-ahead-of-tt-2022/

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

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

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

Our ref: 2205125 3 February 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 20 January 2022 and which states:

"Hi, I request a copy of all correspondence between Department of Infrastructure staff and media outlets about the Mountain Road closure. By "correspondence", I mean written records (in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act) which might be on email or other electronic messaging services (such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, SMS/text messaging, or any other electronic messaging services not identified here). By "Department of Infrastructure staff" I mean the Minister and all people working on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure (without regard to whether they are employees, contractors, or have other contractual arrangements, explicit or implied) By "media outlets" I mean organisations which report news, trading under names such as Manx Radio, Isle of Man Newspapers, Gef the Mongoose, 3FM, EnergyFM, or others. By "the Mountain Road closure" I mean the event described online here: https://www.gov.im/news/2022/jan/20/mountain-road-closures-to-enable- improvements-ahead-of-tt-2022/"

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 the information that you have requested. The Highways Liaison Officer and the Regulations and Events Officer who would normally be in contact with the media have confirmed that they have had no correspondence with the media regarding the Mountain Road closure.

Please quote the reference number 2205125 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.