Details of the legal liability insurance against claims made by members of the public

Summary

The requester asked for details regarding legal liability insurance held by the Cabinet Office against public claims, but the authority refused the request stating the information is not held by them.

Key Facts

• The Cabinet Office does not hold the requested legal liability insurance information.
• The insurance information is held by the Treasury on behalf of all Isle of Man Government Departments.
• The request was refused under section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The authority warned that multiple requests may be considered vexatious if they impose a disproportionate burden.
• The requester was advised to re-submit the query to the Treasury via the online portal.

Data Disclosed

• 2017-03-15
• 2017-04-11
• IM81194I
• section 11(3)(a)
• section 3
• section 60
• 3 pages
• 1 document

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Information not held)

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

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REFERENCE NUMBER: IM81194I

REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2015 (“the Act”) Thank you for your request dated 15 March 2017 under the Freedom of Information Act 2015. Your request asked for: “I understand Cabinet Office subscribes to some form of legal liability insurance against claims made by members of the public. I want to find out the terms of such insurance, if possible see a policy summary or the full policy contract. If need be, redacted for commercial confidentiality. I want to figure out what is covered, what amounts and the other key terms of this insurance.” Response to your request Under section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 we are refusing your application on the grounds that a practical refusal reason applies in this instance as the Cabinet Office does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps, find the information that you have request.
To provide help and assistance please note that any “legal liability insurance against claims made by members of the public” information you refer to is held by Treasury on behalf of all Isle of Man Government Departments. We suggest that further queries on this subject are directed to Treasury, they are also subject to this Act. You can re-submit your request, or further questions, via the on-line portal which can be found at https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom- of-information/freedom-of-information-request-january-1-2017/ However, we are taking this opportunity to highlight our concerns with your recent multiple FOI requests that have had the intention to further a private interest rather than the promotion of the wider public interest, which in itself is an improper use of the Act as per section 3, as follows:

3 Purpose The purpose of this Act is to enable persons who are resident in the Island to obtain access to information held by public authorities in accordance with the principles that — a) the information should be available to the public to promote the public interest; and b) exceptions to the right of access are necessary to maintain a balance with rights to privacy, effective government, and value for the taxpayer.

Government Office DOUGLAS Isle of Man IM1 3PN Tel: (+44) 01624 686244 Fax: (+44) 01624 685710 Website www.gov.im/co
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Dealing with your multiple FOI requests, complaint correspondence and Data Protection subject access requests, can be considered holistically when assessing the burden on the Cabinet Office; as the total effort required to meet such requests is disproportionate in terms of the strain on time, causing an unreasonable diversion and expense of resources.
The total expense and effort required by the Cabinet Office, is such that the Cabinet Office cannot reasonably be expected to keep complying with such requests, even if there is a legitimate interest in the subject matter, when the burden of which is disproportionate to any public value in the information you seek. This is especially true if this impacts on the delivering of the departmental mainstream services or answering legitimate requests. If your requests continue without there being a reasonable time lapse, where the topic in case relates to or is in a similar vein to your previous requests, and/or the tone and manner of the request reflects inappropriate behaviours as described within in the Code of Practice, we will consider the request on the basis that a the practical refusal reason s11(3)(d) can be applied. This supports the assessment and potential refusal of a request as vexatious, malicious, frivolous, misconceived or lacking in substance. Application of this refusal depends on the circumstances of each case, and relates to the request not the requester. Accordingly, this is not saying that you, as an individual requestor, are vexatious. Examples of factors which the Cabinet Office may take into account in determining if a request is vexatious are set out in the Code of Practice issued under s60 of the Act, which you can find here: https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/our-response-to-your- request/code-of-practice/. 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 to the FOI Co-ordinator, Cabinet Office, Government Office, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3PN. An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/freedom-of- information-review-request-january-1-2017/ , a paper copy can be requested by contacting the Cabinet Office direct.
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 apply for a review of decisions by the Information Commissioner, for a decision on; 1) Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Act; 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.
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More detailed information on your rights to review is on the Information Commissioner’s website at: https://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.