Steam Railway guards

Summary

A request for information regarding Steam Railway guards was partially fulfilled by the Department of Infrastructure, disclosing hourly pay rates but withholding specific employment and training data for new guards hired in 2016 and 2017.

Key Facts

• Guards on old terms and conditions are paid £10.17 per hour.
• Guards on new terms and conditions are paid £9.70 per hour.
• Two new guards were employed in 2016.
• Two new guards were employed in 2017.
• Specific hours worked and training failure details were withheld to prevent individual identification.

Data Disclosed

• £10.17
• £9.70
• 2016
• 2017
• 2
• 2017-11-08
• 2017-11-20

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25(2)(b)(i) of the Freedom of Information Act (Data Protection Act 2002)
• Data protection principles regarding fair and lawful disclosure

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Section 25(2)(b)(i) Information is also absolutely exempt information if the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 2002, the disclosure of the information to a member of the public (otherwise than under this Act) would contravene any of the data protection principles;

1. Guards employed on the old terms and conditions are paid £10.17 per hour, while guards employed on new terms and conditions are paid £9.70 per hour.

2. The Division employed 2 new Guards 2016. As the number of staff was relatively low, releasing the hours they worked or stating if they failed their training or not might enable identification of individuals, therefore in line with section 25(b)(i), the Department is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles, namely that the Department can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions in schedule 2, and in this case, the conditions have not been met.

Section 25(2)(b)(i) Information is also absolutely exempt information if the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 2002, the disclosure of the information to a member of the public (otherwise than under this Act) would contravene any of the data protection principles;

1. The Division employed 2 new Guards in 2017. As the number of staff was relatively low, releasing the hours they worked, or stating if they failed their training or not might enable identification of individuals, therefore in line with section 25(b)(i), the Department is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles, namely that the Department can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions in schedule 2, and in this case, the conditions have not been met.

Section 25(2)(b)(i) Information is also absolutely exempt information if the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 2002, the disclosure of the information to a member of the public (otherwise than under this Act) would contravene any of the data protection principles;

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 to foi.doi@gov.im or by delivery/post to The FOI Co-ordinator, Department of Infrastructure, Sea Terminal Buildings, Douglas, IM1 2RF. An electronic version and paper version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at www.gov.im/foireview

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; 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: 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 https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Response Team