Legal costs at tribunal

Summary

The requester asked for a detailed breakdown of legal costs and travel expenses for the Department of Health and Social Care regarding Dr Rosalind Ranson's tribunal. The authority disclosed the total accrued cost of £37,399 but withheld the specific breakdown of travel and accommodation as exempt personal data.

Key Facts

• The request concerned legal costs for Dr Rosalind Ranson's employment and equality tribunal.
• The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed total accrued costs of £37,399.
• Specific details regarding travel and accommodation for James Boyd were withheld.
• The exemption was applied under section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The withheld information was classified as personal data under GDPR principles.

Data Disclosed

• £37,399
• 2022-02-15
• 2022-03-14
• 2260797
• section 25
• Article 5
• Article 6

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (absolutely exempt personal information)
• Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018 (Article 5 and Article 6)

Original Request

Can you provide a breakdown of the Department of Health and Social Care's legal costs accrued in response to Dr Rosalind Ranson's employment and equality tribunal, including the travel and accommodation costs incurred by hiring James Boyd and bringing him to the Island?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Chief Executive: Karen Malone Freedom of Information Team First Floor Belgravia House Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1AE

Our ref: 2260797 14 March 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 15 February 2022 and which states:

"Can you provide a breakdown of the Department of Health and Social Care's legal costs accrued in response to Dr Rosalind Ranson's employment and equality tribunal, including the travel and accommodation costs incurred by hiring James Boyd and bringing him to the Island?"

Our response to your request is as follows: I have detailed below the information. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information). The reasons why that exemption to the breakdown of costs including travel and accommodation applies are that: • The Department of Health and Social Care is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and • The Department of Health and Social Care is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Department of Health and Social Care can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met. To provide advice and assistance, the Department can confirm that the total costs accrued to date is £37,399.

Please quote the reference number 2260797 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.