Pupil breakdown in SVJ & Douglas/Braddan areas per FoI ref. IM93918I

Summary

The request sought a breakdown of correspondence regarding the proposed co-location of St Thomas' and Scoill Vallajeelt schools sent to various officials between 29 July and 4 August 2017. The Department of Education disclosed data for its own members and officers but refused the request for elected representatives outside the department, citing a practical refusal reason.

Key Facts

• The Department received 1 letter/email in favour of the proposal for Mr H Quayle (Chief Minister) and 1 for Mr G Cregeen (Minister for Education).
• Mr A Shipley (Legal and Administration Manager) received 1 letter/email in favour of the proposal.
• No correspondence was recorded for the Department of Economic Development members or the Education Council members listed.
• Information regarding correspondence sent to Mrs K Beecroft, Mrs D Caine, Mr B Malarkey, and Ms C Bettison was refused as they are not Department members.
• A correction was issued for a previous request (IM69674I), adding 6 letters opposing the proposal from the period 14 June to 28 July 2017.

Data Disclosed

• 29/07/17 to 04/08/17
• 14/06/17 to 28/07/17
• 1
• 6
• 0
• IM97969I
• IM69674I
• IM96974I

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) of the Act (Practical refusal reason: information not held by the Department)

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

16th August 2017

Re: Freedom of Information Request – Reference Number IM97969I

Your Request:-

Following the response to FOI release No.IM96974I, which covered the period Wednesday 14th June 2017 to Friday 28th July 2017, I would also like to know how many Isle of Man residents have written and/or sent emails to their MHKs and the Department of Education and Children’s officials specifically with regards to the proposed co-location of St Thomas’ and Scoill Vallajeelt.
Can you please split this total of letters and emails across the following officials:-

Mr. H. Quayle MHK Chief Minister, Mr. G. Cregeen MHK Minister for Education and Children, Mrs. K. Beecroft MHK Douglas South Elected Representative, Mrs. D. Caine MHK Children’s Champion, Mr. B. Malarkey MHK Douglas South Elected Representative, Ms. C. Bettison MHK Douglas East Elected Representative, Mr. G. Corkish MBE, MLC Member of the Department of Economic Development, Mrs. A. Corlett MHK Member of the Department of Economic Development, Mr. L. Hooper MHK Member of the Department of Economic Development,

Departments of Education and Children Senior Leadership Team:- Professor R. Barr, Chief Executive Officier, Mr. G. Moorcroft, Director of Education, Ms. Y. Mellor, Director of Strategy and Corporate Services, Mr. R. Collister, Estates Director, Mr. A. Shipley, Legal and Administration Manager,

Members of the Education Council:- Mr. S. Bevan, Mrs B. Brereton, Mr. A. Cole, Mrs. M. Mansfield, Mrs. T. Martin, Mrs. J. Pendree, Department of Education and Children

Rheynn Ynsee as Paitchyn

Mrs. D. Brown, Mr. R. Smith, Mrs L. Strickett, Mr. R. Turton.

For each official listed above, can you please analyse how may letters and emails were in favour of the proposal and how many were against. If any correspondence cannot be defined into these two categories please total these under other. Can you please extend this exercise to include the week Saturday 29th July 2017 to Friday 4th August 2017.

Department Response:-

The Department can advise that the number of letters and emails received by the Minister, Department Members and Officers within the specified date range is as follows:-

Letters and emails from IoM residents regarding St Thomas’/Scoill Vallajeelt co- location (received between the period 29/07/17 to 04/08/17)

A B C D Member/Officer name

Total number of letters and emails Letters & emails in column A favour of the proposal Letters & emails in column A against the proposal Letter & emails on column A categorised as ‘other’ Mr H Quayle, MHK Chief Minister (see note overleaf) 1*

1*

Mr G Cregeen MHK Minister for Education and Children 1

1

Mr G Corkish MBE, MLC Member of the Department of Economic Development

Mrs A Corlett MHK Member of the Department of Economic Development

Mr L Hooper MHK Member of the Department of Economic Development

Professor R. Barr, Chief Executive Officer

Mr G Moorcroft, Director of Education

Ms Y Mellor, Director of Strategy and Corporate Services

Mr R Collister, Estates Director

Mr A Shipley, Legal and Administration Manager 1

1

Mr S Bevan

Mrs B Brereton

Mr A Cole

Mrs M Mansfield

Mrs T Martin

Mrs J Pendree

Mrs D Brown

Mr R Smith

Mrs L Strickett

Mr R Turton

• The Department received 1 re-directed email from the Chief Minister’s Office within the period of your request, for which a response was provided by the Department. However this information should be considered to be a partial disclosure only as the Department does not hold any further information on correspondence sent to the Chief Minister in this matter.

Except for this re-directed email and in respect of your request for information on letters/emails sent to the other named individuals (Mrs K Beecroft MHK, Mrs D Caine MHK, Mr B Malarkey MHK and Ms C Bettison MHK), I can advise that your request is refused by the Department.
This is because a practical refusal reason applies under section 11(3)(a) of the Act, as the Department does not hold the information requested as these individuals are not Members or Officials of the Department.

Should you still wish to seek this information you will need to contact each of them individually (as part of normal business) or submit a Freedom of Information request to the Clerk of Tynwald’s Office or, in the case of the Chief Minister, to the Cabinet Office.

Your FoI response IM69674I - correction The Department has identified, from its search and review of relevant correspondence for this FoI request (IM97969I), a further letter that should have been included with the response to your earlier FoI request, ref. IM69674I. This was an accidental omission and the Department is pleased to correct this as follows:-

A B C Total number of letters 14/06/17 to 28/07/17 Column A – in favour of the proposal Column A - opposing the proposal

6

0

6

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 Review/Complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post to:

Mr Andrew Shipley, Legal and Administration Manager, Hamilton House, Peel Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 5EZ.

An electronic version of our Review/Complaint form can be found by going to https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/

Your Review/Complaint 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 conducted.

Appeal Process

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; 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 rights to review is on the Information Commissioner’s website at https://www.inforights.im/contact-us/

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