Communications with Manx Gas

Summary

The requester sought all written communications between Manx Utilities and Manx Gas regarding debts and payments since March 31, 2022. Manx Utilities provided a summary of invoices and payments along with redacted email chains, withholding personal data such as signatures and phone numbers under data protection exemptions.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 2022-05-20 and responded to on 2022-06-20.
• Information was partially exempt due to the presence of personal data.
• Redactions were applied to biometric signatures and direct dial telephone numbers to prevent fraud and harassment.
• The response included a summary statement of invoices issued, monies paid, and balances owing.
• Manx Utilities confirmed receipt of subsequent payments from Manx Gas beyond the specific period requested.

Data Disclosed

• 2460549
• 2282881
• 2022-05-20
• 2022-06-20
• March 31 2022
• 55,680.25
• 3,122,539.11
• -125,758.84
• -3,410,704.83
• -21,279.48
• -2,839,596.18
• -2,443,841.04
• 53,884.11
• 488.02
• 1,702,559.15
• section 25(2)(a)&(b)
• Data Protection Act 2018
• Article 5
• Article 6

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25(2)(a)&(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Absolutely exempt personal information)
• Data Protection Act 2018
• Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (Data protection principles)

Original Request

Further to my previous FoI (ref: 2282881), I seek publication of all written communications between Manx Utilities and Manx Gas that relate to moneys owed, BAC payments and unpaid invoices since March 31 2022.

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

Manx Utilities PO Box 177, Douglas Isle of Man, IM99 1PS

e: enquiries@manxutilities.im t: 01624 687687 www.manxutilities.im

Our ref: 2460549 20 June 2022

Dear ###

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

"Further to my previous FoI (ref: 2282881), I seek publication of all written communications between Manx Utilities and Manx Gas that relate to moneys owed, BAC payments and unpaid invoices since March 31 2022."

Our aim is to provide information whenever possible, attached in the information we are able to provide to you as information held for the period requested. Consisting of: 1. Attachments that show the email history chain, and a letter sent; and 2. Below is a summary statement, that reflects the invoices issued, monies paid, and the balances owing during the period: Invoice / Posting Date Entry Type Document No. Description Original Amount Due Date 11/04/2022 Invoice SPI4415215 Invoice SPI4415215 (Invoice SO) 55,680.25 11/05/2022 19/04/2022 Invoice SPI4415263 Invoice SPI4415263 (Invoice SO085461) 3,122,539.11 19/05/2022 20/04/2022 Payment PP6029455 Payment of Document No. SPI4414314 -125,758.84 20/04/2022 Payment PP6029455 Payment of Document No. SPI4414429 -3,410,704.83 20/04/2022 Payment PP6029455 Payment of Document No. SPI4414617 -125,758.84 20/04/2022 Payment PP6029455 Payment of Document No. SPI4414681 -21,279.48 20/04/2022 Payment PP6029455 Payment of Document No. SPI4414719 -2,839,596.18 27/04/2022 Payment PP6037288 Payment of Document No. SPI4414969 -2,443,841.04 03/05/2022 Invoice SPI4415396 Invoice SPI4415396 (Invoice SO085594) 53,884.11 02/06/2022 06/05/2022 Invoice SPI4415443 Invoice SPI4415443 (Invoice SO085643) 488.02 05/06/2022

12/05/2022 Payment PP6047862 Payment of Document No. SPI4415215 -55,680.25 12/05/2022 Invoice SPI4415516 Invoice SPI4415516 (Invoice SO085728) 1,702,559.15 11/06/2022

The Act allows us to supply further advice and assistance outside of the request period; Manx Utilities can therefore confirm receipt of subsequent payments from Manx Gas in relation to the amount mentioned in the letter provided (attached as part of this response).

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, however, in this instance there are some minor redactions within the attachments, applied to physical or imaged, biometric signatures incorporate into letters, and direct dial telephone numbers. Manx Utilities do redact these details as standard practice to safeguard and reduce fraud risk, or harassment, and as they do no hold any real further public interest. The information is absolutely exempt under section 25(2)(a)&(b) of the Act; Absolutely exempt personal information. The reasons why that exemption applies are that: • Manx Utilities is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data, under the Data Protection Act 2018, of which you are not the data subject; and • Manx Utilities 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, namely that Manx Utilities can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6. In this case, none of those conditions have been met. Please quote the reference number 2460549 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 From: Clague, Simon (MU) Sent: 20 May 2022 10:17 To: jo.cox (jo.cox@i-e-g.com); Gareth Fooks; 'Aidan Baglow'; 'Paul Kingston' Cc: King, Philip (Philip.King@manxutilities.im); Brewster, Robyn Subject: Manx Gas - overdue payment of invoice Attachments: Letter Before Action 20 May 2022.pdf Importance: High Dear Jo –
Further to the exchange of emails yesterday, I note that payment has still not been received into our bank account and we consider this is an unacceptable breach of our contractual terms. I attach a copy of a further Letter Before Claim, which has been posted to you today. It is very disappointing that Manx Gas continues to repeatedly ignore our contractual agreements and we are considering our position and the options available to us. We need to have contractual arrangements in place where we can be confident Manx Gas will meet its contractual obligations in full and that are mutually beneficial to both Manx Gas and Manx Utilities – this is currently not the case. As per our request yesterday, please provide details of the reason for the delay and advise when you expect to be in a position to make payment by return. Unfortunately the only conclusion I can currently reach is that you are aware of the reasons the £3m wasn’t paid before today and you are consciously choosing not to share that information with us.
If the reason for the delay is banking system related then reinstating the direct debit agreement should help lessen the chance of future problems occurring. Signing up to a new direct debit agreement would also be viewed positively by our Board and our shareholder, particularly if payments are collected on time for a number of months. It would also be a positive step towards improving the relationship between our two organisations. Please let me know if you would like me to forward a new direct debit form for your team to complete. I look forward to hearing from you. Regards Simon From: Jo Cox Jo.Cox@i‐e‐g.com   Sent: 19 May 2022 13:26  To: Brewster, Robyn Robyn.Brewster@manxutilities.im; Paul Kingston Paul.Kingston@i‐e‐g.com  Cc: Gareth Fooks Gareth.Fooks@i‐e‐g.com; Aidan Baglow Aidan.Baglow@i‐e‐g.com; Clague, Simon (MU)  Simon.Clague@manxutilities.im; King, Philip Philip.King@manxutilities.im  Subject: RE: Re ‐ Manx Gas Hedging  Caution: This email is from an external sender. Please take care before opening any attachments or  following any links.   Hi Robyn  2 I will revert when we can confirm those details.  Jo  From: Brewster, Robyn Robyn.Brewster@manxutilities.im   Sent: 19 May 2022 13:24  To: Jo Cox Jo.Cox@i‐e‐g.com; Paul Kingston Paul.Kingston@i‐e‐g.com  Cc: Gareth Fooks Gareth.Fooks@i‐e‐g.com; Aidan Baglow Aidan.Baglow@i‐e‐g.com; Clague, Simon (MU)  Simon.Clague@manxutilities.im; King, Philip Philip.King@manxutilities.im  Subject: RE: Re ‐ Manx Gas Hedging  ** PHISHING WARNING, THIS E‐MAIL IS FROM AN EXTERNAL SENDER. CHECK AUTHENTICITY! ** Hi Jo  Thank you for your email, please would you:  (i) provide details of the reason for the delay; and (ii) advise when you expect to be in a position to make payment? I look forward to hearing from you,  Kind regards  Robyn  From: Jo Cox Jo.Cox@i‐e‐g.com   Sent: 19 May 2022 12:37  To: Brewster, Robyn Robyn.Brewster@manxutilities.im; Paul Kingston Paul.Kingston@i‐e‐g.com  Cc: Gareth Fooks Gareth.Fooks@i‐e‐g.com; Aidan Baglow Aidan.Baglow@i‐e‐g.com; Clague, Simon (MU)  Simon.Clague@manxutilities.im; King, Philip Philip.King@manxutilities.im  Subject: RE: Re ‐ Manx Gas Hedging  Caution: This email is from an external sender. Please take care before opening any attachments or  following any links.   Hi Robyn  I am afraid that payment will not be made today, we are working through some issues and will confirm as soon as  payment has been made.  Kind regards  Jo  From: Brewster, Robyn Robyn.Brewster@manxutilities.im   Sent: 19 May 2022 10:29  To: Paul Kingston Paul.Kingston@i‐e‐g.com  Cc: Gareth Fooks Gareth.Fooks@i‐e‐g.com; Aidan Baglow Aidan.Baglow@i‐e‐g.com; Clague, Simon (MU)  Simon.Clague@manxutilities.im; King, Philip Philip.King@manxutilities.im; Jo Cox Jo.Cox@i‐e‐g.com  Subject: RE: Re ‐ Manx Gas Hedging  3 ** PHISHING WARNING, THIS E‐MAIL IS FROM AN EXTERNAL SENDER. CHECK AUTHENTICITY! ** Dear Paul  Further to the email below, our invoice no SPI4415263 is due for payment today.  Please would you confirm that the  payment will be remitted to our bank account today?  I look forward to hearing from you,  Kind regards  Robyn  Robyn Brewster  FCA  Management Accountant  SUSTAINABLY DELIVERING  LIFE’S ESSENTIAL SERVICES  FOR OUR ISLAND  Respect  |  Integrity  |  Teamwork  |  Excellence  t:        +44 (   e:       robyn.brewster@manxutilities.im  w:      www.manxutilities.im  687687 1 From: Clague, Simon (MU) Sent: 20 April 2022 14:04 To: 'Jo Cox'; Paul Kingston; King, Philip Cc: Gareth Fooks; Aidan Baglow Subject: RE: Re - Manx Gas Hedging Hi Jo – please can you confirm these invoices will be paid today? Regards Simon From: Jo Cox Jo.Cox@i‐e‐g.com   Sent: 20 April 2022 13:17  To: Clague, Simon (MU) Simon.Clague@manxutilities.im; Paul Kingston Paul.Kingston@i‐e‐g.com; King, Philip  Philip.King@manxutilities.im  Cc: Gareth Fooks Gareth.Fooks@i‐e‐g.com; Aidan Baglow Aidan.Baglow@i‐e‐g.com  Subject: RE: Re ‐ Manx Gas Hedging  Caution: This email is from an external sender. Please take care before opening any attachments or  following any links.   Hi Simon, thanks for the update.  I can concur that we have two invoices that are one week overdue.  Jo  From: Clague, Simon (MU) Simon.Clague@manxutilities.im   Sent: 20 April 2022 13:08  To: Jo Cox Jo.Cox@i‐e‐g.com; Paul Kingston Paul.Kingston@i‐e‐g.com; King, Philip  Philip.King@manxutilities.im  Cc: Gareth Fooks Gareth.Fooks@i‐e‐g.com; Aidan Baglow Aidan.Baglow@i‐e‐g.com  Subject: RE: Re ‐ Manx Gas Hedging  ** PHISHING WARNING, THIS E‐MAIL IS FROM AN EXTERNAL SENDER. CHECK AUTHENTICITY! ** Hi Jo – I haven’t received any confirmation from Manx Gas of the invoices that have been paid but we believe we have now matched the amount remitted against invoices. You’ll have seen that there are two invoices which became overdue earlier in the month and remain over the 30 days’ payment terms and need to be paid today (£2.444m). I am not sure why you consider these invoices not yet due for payment but please let me know if you still believe this to be true.  Regards  Simon  1 From: Clague, Simon (MU) Sent: 20 April 2022 12:50 To: 'Paul Kingston'; 'Jo Cox'; King, Philip Cc: 'Gareth Fooks'; 'Aidan Baglow'; Brewster, Robyn Subject: RE: Re - Manx Gas Hedging Mr Kingston –
My summary of the outstanding amounts is as below, for information. Please let me know if you disagree with these figures.
Regards Simon Posting Date Document Type Document No. Remaining Amount Due Date Remaining Amount 05/01/2022 Invoice SPI4414314 £125,758.84 04/02/2022 -
12/01/2022 Invoice SPI4414429 £3,410,704.83 11/02/2022 -
02/02/2022 Invoice SPI4414617 £125,758.84 04/03/2022 -
07/03/2022 Credit note SPCM030200 (£70,078.62) 07/03/2022 (£70,078.62) 08/02/2022 Invoice SPI4414681 £21,279.48 10/03/2022 -
10/02/2022 Invoice SPI4414719 £2,839,596.18 12/03/2022 -
02/03/2022 Invoice SPI4414865 £50,291.84 01/04/2022 £50,291.84
11/03/2022 Invoice SPI4414969 £2,463,627.82 10/04/2022 £2,463,627.82
Total overdue £8,966,939.21
£2,443,841.04
11/04/2022 Invoice SPI4415215 £55,680.25 11/05/2022 £55,680.25
19/04/2022 Invoice SPI4415263 £3,122,539.11 19/05/2022 £3,122,539.11
Total outstanding £12,145,158.57
£5,622,060.40
From: Clague, Simon (MU)   Sent: 20 April 2022 12:48  To: 'Paul Kingston' Paul.Kingston@i‐e‐g.com; Jo Cox Jo.Cox@i‐e‐g.com; King, Philip  Philip.King@manxutilities.im  Cc: Gareth Fooks Gareth.Fooks@i‐e‐g.com; Aidan Baglow Aidan.Baglow@i‐e‐g.com; Brewster, Robyn  Robyn.Brewster@manxutilities.im  Subject: RE: Re ‐ Manx Gas Hedging  Mr Kingston –
I can confirm that we have received the payments from Manx Gas – totalling £6.523m (not the £7.5m I stated yesterday – my error). I can further confirm that an amount of £2.444m remains overdue in respect of invoices SPI4414865 and SPI4414969, less credit note SPCM030200. These invoices were issued on 2 March 2022 and 11 March 2022 respectively, and became overdue on 1 April 2022 and 10 April 2022. Please remit funds for these invoices (less the credit note) by return to avoid further collection activity being undertaken.
Regards Simon From: Clague, Simon (MU) Sent: 19 April 2022 12:25 To: 'Jo Cox'; Paul Kingston; King, Philip Cc: Gareth Fooks; Aidan Baglow Subject: RE: Re - Manx Gas Hedging Hi – this is the information on our finance system in terms of invoices more than 30 days’ since issue. Please let me know if you think you have already paid any of the invoices. Regards Simon Posting Date Document Type Document No. Remaining Amount 05/01/2022 Invoice SPI4414314 125,758.84 12/01/2022 Invoice SPI4414429 3,410,704.83 02/02/2022 Invoice SPI4414617 55,680.22 08/02/2022 Invoice SPI4414681 21,279.48 10/02/2022 Invoice SPI4414719 2,839,596.18 02/03/2022 Invoice SPI4414865 50,291.84 11/03/2022 Invoice SPI4414969 2,463,627.82 Total 8,966,939.21 1 From: Paul Kingston Paul.Kingston@i-e-g.com Sent: 19 April 2022 12:19 To: Clague, Simon (MU); Jo Cox; King, Philip Cc: Gareth Fooks; Aidan Baglow Subject: RE: Re - Manx Gas Hedging Caution: This email is from an external sender. Please take care before opening any attachments or  following any links.   Dear Mr Clague  All payments have been approved for payment and are now via faster payments and

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