specific tribunal costs and hours

Summary

The request sought total legal costs and hourly breakdowns for the Mr Graeme Jones tribunal; the authority disclosed detailed billable hours but refused to provide financial cost data as it was not held.

Key Facts

• The Attorney General's Chambers does not hold information regarding the financial costs of the Employment and Equality Tribunal case.
• A total of 582.42 hours were recorded for direct instruction on the EET case between January 2021 and September 2022.
• An additional 30.39 hours were incurred in 2022 for third-party disclosure orders related to the case.
• The refusal for cost data was based on section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The response was issued on 30 September 2022 following a request received on 16 September 2022.

Data Disclosed

• 582.42
• 30.39
• 2021
• 2022
• 16 September 2022
• 30 September 2022
• 2638393
• 2441298
• 46.1
• 125.99
• 110.38

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015

Original Request

Similar to request #2441298, "I seek publication of the total bill to date for all legal services provided in relation to the [Mr Graeme Jones] tribunal." to include costs and billable/non-billable hours by total and by year/month. I imagine the numbers are available on demand via automated reports from the Microsoft Dynamics financial management system or similar and from the Prescient+ case management system and available without undue delay.

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Attorney General's Chambers 2nd floor Belgravia House Circular Road, Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 1AE Telephone: (01624) 685452 E-mail: attgen@gov.im

Our ref: 2638393 30 September 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 16 September 2022 and which states:

"Similar to request #2441298, "I seek publication of the total bill to date for all legal services provided in relation to the [Mr Graeme Jones] tribunal." to include costs and billable/non-billable hours by total and by year/month. I imagine the numbers are available on demand via automated reports from the Microsoft Dynamics financial management system or similar and from the Prescient+ case management system and available without undue delay." Our response to your request is as follows: While our aim is to is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance a practical refusal reason applies to part of the information requested under section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (“the Act”), as the Attorney General’s Chambers (“AGC”) does not hold the information requested in respect of financial costs of the above referenced Employment and Equality Tribunal (“EET”) case. The breakdown of the hours incurred in respect of the direct instruction on the above referenced EET case are as follows: 2021: January – 46.1 February – 3.81 March – 30.68 April – 23.58 May – 16.23 June – 9.7 July – 11.14 August – 8.05 September – 7.8 October – 3.9 November – 23.35 December – 10.87 2022

February – 23.08 March – 42.91 April – 110.38 May – 125.99 June – 63.35 July – 10.7 August – 10.6 September – 0.2 Total 582.42 In addition, and separate from the conduct of the EET proceedings, the AGC acted for a number of parties relating to third party disclosure orders made by the EET at the request of the claimant. The breakdown of the hours incurred in respect of such are as follows: 2022: April – 19.86 May – 10.03 June – 0.5 Total – 30.39 Please quote the reference number 2638393 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.