Review

Summary

The requester sought the internal review of the Department of Home Affairs referenced in a February 2022 press release. The authority disclosed the 'Blue Light Service' review document, originally commissioned in 2018 and updated in 2021, along with a link to a related parliamentary response.

Key Facts

• The Department of Home Affairs released the 'Blue Light Service' review document.
• The review was originally commissioned by Chief Minister Howard Quayle in July 2018.
• The document was revisited and updated in 2021 by the Cabinet Office.
• The review proposes creating an integrated Blue Light Service as an arm's length body.
• The response included a link to a parliamentary question answer from March 2022.

Data Disclosed

• 2356826
• 2022-03-29
• 2022-04-27
• 2022-02-24
• July 2018
• 2021
• March 2022
• October 2021
• 29 pages
• 2 documents

Original Request

I seek publication of the internal review of the DHA as referenced in a press release issued by the department on February 24 2022.

Data Tables (12)

Full Response Text

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

Telephone: (01624) 694341 Fax: (01624) 621298 Web address: www.gov.im/dha Email: GeneralEnquiries.DHA@dha.gov.im

Our ref: 2356826 26 April 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 29 March 2022 and which states:

"I seek publication of the internal review of the DHA as referenced in a press release issued by the department on February 24 2022."

Our response to your request is as follows: I have enclosed a copy of the Blue Light Service review which was originally commissioned by then Chief Minister Howard Quayle in July 2018. The review was revisited and updated in 2021 by the Cabinet Office and then presented for the consideration of the new Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Hon. Jane Poole-Wilson MHK. To provide advice and assistance, given the length of time between the initial review commencing and the final update of the review by the Cabinet Office, some of the initial findings have been addressed. The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs provided further information on the review in response to a parliamentary question in March 2022. A copy of this response is publically available and can be found at: https://www.tynwald.org.im/business/BusinessHansardIndex2126/W-202201-0143.pdf

Please quote the reference number 2356826 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.

1

THE BLUE LIGHT SERVICE Operating emergency services at arm’s length

October 2021

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Executive Summary The Programme for Government clearly identified the principle of a ‘Healthy and Safe Island’ and the Department of Home Affairs has the key role of keeping people safe. The Department understands that a cohesive joint working approach, best use of technology, sharing data and resources between all emergency services is fundamental to the efficiency of the Isle of Man’s emergency services response.
There is little strategic collaboration within the Department of Home Affairs as each of its service areas (Constabulary, Fire and Rescue, Emergency Planning, Communications and Prison and Probation) tends to operate as a separate or singular unit that essentially sits under the same umbrella or banner of ‘home affairs’. Each service has a separate identity, culture, roles, remits, goals, procedures and strategies that are executed without dependency on one another. The centre of the ‘department’ (e.g. the Chief Executive’s Office and other back office functions) provides administrative, policy and legislative support for a collection of relatively autonomous functions. Strategically, there is no unified vision, purpose or plans for these service areas as there is not a single view of what public safety means or is on the Isle of Man.
With the lack of centrally driven strategy or plans in mind, and given that the Department’s administrative functions could readily be provided elsewhere (e.g. in the Cabinet Office) the extent to which the Department of Home Affairs is adding value and therefore required (in its current form) has been considered in this document.
As such, the following pages set out the case for developing an integrated Blue Light Service that improves collaboration between the current Home Affairs services and Manx Care’s Ambulance Service, maintains the freedom for operational delivery, but most importantly, creates space for providing strong strategic direction through the separation of operational delivery from strategy and policy making. In practice, this means the creation of an arm’s length body where the functions and ministerial responsibility for the Department of Home Affairs are transferred to the Cabinet Office via an Executive Agency or to a Statutory Board. In developing this document, other options for operating these services at arm’s length from the Isle of Man Government have been explored. These included: the Cabinet Office absorbing all functions of the Department of Home Affairs, the creation of a Minister for Law and Order and Community Safety and the responsibility for justice policy delegated to the Minister for Policy and Reform. Ultimately, these options were discounted on the basis that any new model must ensure that the independence of the Isle of Man Constabulary can be protected, there is political oversight, accountability is clear, the operating model has been proven, the governance structures are robust, and that there are no additional costs generated.
Running at arm’s length Blue Light Service will deliver:  A clear and shared vision for public safety on the Isle of Man  Trust at all levels of the collaborating agencies  Clear, shared resource plans  Robust governance and performance architecture.

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Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4 The Department of Home Affairs .................................................................................... 5 Chief Executive’s Office .............................................................................................. 6 Isle of Man Constabulary ............................................................................................ 7 Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service ............................................................................ 7 Isle of Man Prison and Probation Service ..................................................................... 8 Communications Division ............................................................................................ 9 Budget ...................................................................................................................... 9 The Isle of Man Ambulance Service ............................................................................... 11 Integrated Public Safety: Worldwide Models ................................................................... 12 Blue Light Hub: Isle of Man ........................................................................................... 15 The Blue Light Target Operating Model ....................................................................... 16 Merged Services ....................................................................................................... 16 Transferred Functions ............................................................................................... 16 Nominal Adaptions .................................................................................................... 17 Operating at Arm’s Length ......................................................................................... 17 1. The Blue Light Agency ........................................................................................ 18 2. The Blue Light Board .......................................................................................... 19 Delivering the Blue Light ........................................................................................... 21 Funding the Blue Light ................................................................................................. 24 Conclusion and Recommendations ................................................................................. 25 Blue Light Service: Implementation ............................................................................... 26

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Introduction This paper outlines a number of recommendations or items for consideration in relation to the future organisation and operating model of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). In the main, it focuses on two key areas: 1. The establishment of an integrated Blue Light Service and, 2. The operation and delivery of Blue Light Services at arm’s length from a departmental body. In developing the case for reassessing the Department of Home Affairs’ operating model and delivery of services, the following matters have been carefully considered: o The changing nature of the demands to achieve public safety, o The drive to create better strategic policy , o Strengthening the delivery of strategic and policy directives,
o Creating greater strategic and operational alignment between the emergency services, o Coordinating the delivery of justice through the Police, Courts, Public Defence, Criminal Prosecutions, Rehabilitation, Prevention, and detention, o The requirements to ensure clear separation of the Executive from the Police and the Prison and Probation service, o Separating policy from operations. Within the following pages, an assessment of the current position of the Department of Home Affairs is presented, followed by examples of best-practice ‘blue light’ integration before closing with a proposed target operating model and steps outlining how this can be achieved.

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The Department of Home Affairs The Department of Home Affairs has responsibility for the core functions of the Island’s government that relate to community safety, criminal justice and the overarching safety of the Island’s public. It is constituted under Section 1 of the Government Departments Act 1987.
The Department, through these core functions is responsible for oversight of the following discrete and operationally independent service areas:  Isle of Man Constabulary  Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service  Emergency Planning and Civil Defence  Isle of Man Prison and Probation Service and  Communications Division (Emergency Services Joint Control Room) The Department is also responsible for the majority of criminal justice policy and legislation.
The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs is supported by a small central office, led by a Chief Executive and a team with responsibility for policy, legislation, finance and a number of other corporate functions.
The current organisational structure is shown below.

Department of Home Affairs Organisational Structure, September 2021

Detailed information on each of the DHA’s division and services is shown below.

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Chief Executive’s Office The heads of each Division report to the Chief Executive, with the exception of the Chief Constable who is statutorily independent. The Department also has responsibility for Civil Defence and Emergency planning which is co-ordinated by a central role. While the services tend to operate autonomously or independently, the Chief Executive’s Office carries out a number of support functions for them that includes: finance, fleet and estates at an operational level as well as strategy, policy and legislative support. Two officers provide support for the Minister in departmental and parliamentary business but also undertake policy and legislation development/review as well as carrying out secretariat functions for a number of committees in the Department. The Office also provides statutory administrative support to the Parole Committee. In addition, it provides administration and secretariat for a number of cross Government committees, including the Criminal Justice Board, the Emergency Planning Strategic Group and the Road Safety Strategic Group. It supports the Licensees Forum and the Gun Owners’ Forum. The office also acts as an agent for DBS checks. In terms of the legislative function, the Department has, since 2018, concluded four significant pieces of legislation (The Domestic Abuse Act, the Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Act and the Justice Reform Act) with the Licensing Bill awaiting Royal Assent. Each of these will require significant secondary legislation and guidance to be drafted prior to their enactment. The Department is responsible for maintaining and developing complex and critical policy and legislation, particularly relating to criminal justice. There is also a significant body of secondary legislation. The Department has a statutory responsibility for Emergency planning with such functions being carried out on a permanent on-call basis by an Emergency Planning officer. The Department is the formal line of communication between the UK Military and the Government in respect of Military Aid to Civilian Authorities (MACA) requests. The Department has been subject to criticism in relation to its poor information governance standards and was consequently subject to a penalty. To mitigate any further risks on account of the complexity and contentious nature of Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests the Department has appointed a full-time Data Protection Officer.
As such, the operation of the Chief Executive’s Office could be described as largely administrative; providing support to a collection of relatively autonomous functions.
Chief Executive’s Office: Staffing & Budget Full Time Part Time Totals

Terms and Conditions Number Pro-rata Pay Number Pro-rata Pay Count Pro-rata Pay Public Service 8 £393,

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