Disposal of Properties

Summary

The Treasury responded to a request for details on government property disposals since 2009, initially providing data up to March 2017 and later issuing a correction to include disposals from April to December 2017. The response excluded records for the Manx Utilities Authority and the Isle of Man Post Office, and noted that pre-2011 data falls outside the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

Key Facts

• The request covered property disposals by the Isle of Man Government since 2009.
• An initial response omitted disposals between 1 April 2017 and 4 December 2017, which were later provided in a correction letter.
• Information regarding external disposals by the Manx Utilities Authority and Isle of Man Post Office was excluded as the Treasury does not hold detailed financial records for them.
• The Freedom of Information Act 2015 only applies to information created on or after 11 October 2011.
• Disposals were categorized by department, date, receipt amount, and method of disposal.

Data Disclosed

• 342,000
• 0.25
• 80,000
• 155,318
• 345,000
• 10
• 91,100
• 18,549
• 2,500
• 2009
• 11 October 2011
• 31 March 2017
• 1 April 2017
• 4 December 2017
• 4 January 2018
• 17 January 2018

Exemptions Cited

• Information created before 11 October 2011 is outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• Treasury does not hold detailed financial records for Manx Utilities Authority and Isle of Man Post Office disposals.

Original Request

Details of properties disposed of by Govt since 2009

Data Tables (8)

Full Response Text

The Treasury

Yn Tashtey

REFERENCE NUMBER: IM112527I REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2015 (“the Act”)

I write with reference to our response to Freedom of Information request IM112527I, which was issued to you on 4 January 2018.

As part of our routine post-response checks, an omission has been identified in the information we provided you with and we would like to take the opportunity to correct that.

Part 1 of our response included information in relation to disposals of land and property by the Isle of Man Government up until 31 March 2017: it did not include information about disposals that took place between 1 April 2017 and 4 December 2017 (that being the date of your request). It is our view that this information could have been provided to you as part of our initial response.

Accordingly, the table overleaf provides information relating to disposals of land and property by the Isle of Man Government that took place in the period 1 April 2017 to 4 December 2017.

In accordance with our initial response to you, the information provided in the following table excludes external disposals by the Manx Utilities Authority and the Isle of Man Post Office as Treasury does not hold detailed financial records for those entities. Freedom of Information Seyrsnys Fysseree

The Treasury Government Office,
Douglas Isle of Man,
British Isles IM1 3PU

Telephone (01624) 685605 Email: FOI.Treasury@gov.im

Government Website: www.gov.im Date: 17 January 2018

Disposals of land and property by the Isle of Man Government 1 April 2017 and 4 December 2017

Property Address Dept. Date Receipt (£) Method of Disposal Albert Road School DEC 05/05/2017 342,000 Open Market Land at Albert Road DEC 09/05/17 0.25 Transferred Castletown Benefits Office DOI 18/07/2017 80,000 Direct Cranleigh Ville, Laxey DOI 02/06/2017 155,318 Open Market 14 The Laurels, Governors DSC 14/11/2017 345,000 Open Market Land for new Castletown Fire Stn DOI 15/06/2017 10 Transferred Ballagawe Gatehouse DOI 10/11/2017 91,100 Informal Tender Land behind George's Close DOI 13/11/2017 18,549 Direct Land adjacent to 23 Oatfield Rise, Ballasalla
DOI 21/06/17 2,500 Direct

I apologise for this omission and trust that the steps we have now taken satisfy the requirements of this part of your request.

Your right to request a review
If you are unhappy with your 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 me at the above address.
An electronic version of our complaint form can be found at www.gov.im/foireview. 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.
Yours sincerely,

FOI Coordinator, the Treasury

The Treasury

Yn Tashtey

REFERENCE NUMBER: IM112527I REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2015 (“the Act”)

Thank you for your request dated 4 December 2017.

Your request

You asked: -

Please provide details of the properties disposed off by IOM government since the Council of Ministers Sub Committee Report ‘Management of Government Owned Properties’ 2009, Please break this down by Department, and by what method was it disposed off, ie transfer to other dept, public tender, closed bids, private sale etc, the date and the sum achieved. Please advise where the current list of properties owned by government may be found if available? Please advise any that are currently awaiting completion.

Response to your request

1. Properties disposed by Government

A Freedom of Information request may only be made in respect of information created on or after 11 October 2011. As this part of your request is for information created both before and after 11 October 2011 our response is as follows:
In relation to the information created before 11 October 2011, you may wish to submit a separate request for the information under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information which can be found at www.gov.im/media/881974/access- code.pdf.
Freedom of Information Seyrsnys Fysseree

The Treasury Government Office,
Douglas Isle of Man,
British Isles IM1 3PU

Telephone (01624) 685605 Email: FOI.Treasury@gov.im

Government Website: www.gov.im Date: 4 January 2018

In respect of that portion of the information requested, created on or after 11 October 2011, I am pleased to enclose at Annex A the information you have requested. Further to our correspondence, it may be useful to provide some context in relation to the information provided:

The procedure to be followed in respect of disposal of land and property are as required by the Isle of Man Government Financial Regulations, specifically, Financial Direction 29. The Regulations can be found as follows: - https://www.gov.im/media/1354966/isle-of-man-government-financial-regulations- august-2017.pdf

The Council of Ministers’ Policy on the Disposal of Government Land (the Policy) states that property should be publicly advertised and be subject to open sale, tender or auction.

However the Policy does allow for exceptional circumstances which must be first approved by the Board or Minister of the relevant Government body, and then approved by the Treasury prior to negotiations reaching an advanced stage. The Policy also stipulates that Treasury approval is required to dispose of properties between Government bodies and for disposals which are sales to Local Authorities.

The Policy requires Departments etc. to confirm that other Government bodies have no interest in acquiring the land to be sold and Government’s Financial Regulations require that this confirmation should be provided to the Strategic Asset Management Unit (SAMU) which has a central role in co-ordinating property disposals across Government. Over the time period covered, SAMU originally sat with the Department of Infrastructure, then transferred to the Treasury but now the Asset Management Unit sits back with the Department of Infrastructure. Treasury therefore does not hold these records.

The Policy requires a Treasury Officer, the Government Valuer, to provide valuations in respect of sales but Treasury does not necessarily receive or hold information on the final disposal, for example, the date of disposal.

For the purposes of the central Government accounts, Treasury holds a register of fixed assets, relying on Departments to advise of any disposals of assets including land and properties. However, that information does not include the method of disposal.

Sales of properties under the provisions of the House Purchase Assistance Scheme 2007 (HPAS) are exempt from the Policy. Taking the above factors into consideration, we have compiled a list of Government land and property disposals using data held within the central Government accounts along with data held by SAMU. This information is provided at Annex A.
As the Government Accounts for 2017/18 are not yet completed, the information is up to the end of March 2017. The information excludes external disposals by the Manx Utilities Authority and the Isle of Man Post Office as Treasury does not hold detailed financial records for those entities.
2. Where is a current list of properties owned by Government available?

The Government does not publish a list of the properties it owns.

1. Property sales currently awaiting completion.

The table provided overleaf identifies the property disposals that SAMU is aware are currently awaiting completion: -

Property Department Port St Mary Railway Station DOI Police House & Station Andreas DHA Ramsey Courthouse DHA 93 Woodbourne Road DHSC Ayre Cottage DEFA Belmont Hill, Rotherwood DHSC

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 me at the above address.
An electronic version of our complaint form can be found at www.gov.im/foireview. 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.
Yours sincerely,

FOI Coordinator, the Treasury

ANNEX A Property Address Dept. Date Receipt (£) Method of Disposal Sale of Former Works Depot, Lezayre Infrastructure 01/04/2011 18,000 Direct 21a/23 Athol Street, Douglas Infrastructure 28/08/2011 856,057 Open Market Bus Depot, Peel
Community, Culture & Leisure 18/03/2013 210,052 Open Market Land at Balthane Economic Dev 01/11/2012 305,000 Informal Tender Land at the rear of Triskele, Patrick Env, Food & Ag 21/12/2012 4,000 Direct GP Surgery, Peel Health 01/06/2012 380,830 Direct 2-4 Duke Street Health 03/12/2012 264,994 Open Market Kimmeragh View Cottage, Bride Social Care 01/08/2012 75,379 Direct 43 Harcroft Meadows Social Care 01/11/2012 250,000 Open Market - HPAS 1 Snaefell View, Jurby Social Care 07/01/2013 150,000 Open Market - HPAS Bus Depot, Peel
Community, Culture & Leisure 03/06/2013 4,540 Direct Hills Meadow - Units A&B Economic Dev 07/09/2013 200,321 Open Market Land at Balthane Economic Dev 19/11/2013 0 Internal Transfer
Parcel of Land, Ballacubbon, Foxdale Env, Food & Ag 26/06/2013 5,000 Direct Mill Road Yard (99-year lease) Env, Food & Ag 10/10/2013 425,000 Open Market Wool Control Building Env, Food & Ag 22/11/2013 246,694 Open Market Yn Alban, Westmoreland Road, Douglas Health 07/03/2014 208,816 Open Market Murrays Road Clinic Health 19/03/2014 0 Internal Transfer
Onchan Police Station Home Affairs 20/08/2013 261,075 Open Market Disposal of Land at Kewaigue Infrastructure 29/11/2013 125,000 Informal Tender Land at Belmont Hill, Douglas Social Care 08/05/2013 300,000 Open Market Kingswood House, Harris Terrace, Douglas Social Care 04/11/2013 425,775 Open Market 31 Harcroft Meadows Social Care 30/05/2013 210,000 Open Market - HPAS Disposal at Sulby Reservoir Water & Sewerage 31/03/2014 5,173,000 Internal Transfer to the MUA The Nunnery Estate Education 31/01/2015 5,000,350 Open market Sale of land - Cringle Plantation Env, Food & Ag 31/12/2015 30,000 Direct Sale of land - Laurel Bank, St Johns Env, Food & Ag 13/03/2015 10,000 Direct Sale of land - Thalloo yn Trooan Env, Food & Ag 17/03/2015 2,500 Direct Windsor House Health & Social Care 02/03/2015 110,000 Open Market Port St Mary Police Station Home Affairs 18/11/2014 255,297 Informal tender Land Behind Linwood, Baldrine Infrastructure 16/12/2014 500 Direct Disposal of Land - Poyll Dooey Infrastructure 05/03/2015 110,000 Open Market Property Address Dept. Date Receipt (£) Method of Disposal 9 Harcroft Meadows Social Care 23/05/2014 220,000 Open Market - HPAS Sale of Land - Swagelok Economic Dev 14/01/2016 791,290 Direct Sale of land - Albert Road Education 28/06/2016 38,000 Informal Tender Clifton Park Ramsey Education 01/05/2015 150,000 Informal tender Park Road School Site Education 17/07/2015 0 Internal Transfer
Sale of land - Stoney Mountain Env, Food & Ag 16/04/2015 22,000 Direct Sale of land - Laurel Bank, St Johns Env, Food & Ag 13/04/2015 60,000 Direct Sale of land - Corris's Land Env, Food & Ag 19/05/2015 14,663 Direct Slieu Lhost Quarry Env, Food & Ag 09/10/2015 40,000 Direct 62 Port-e-Chee Avenue Health & Social Care 17/06/2015 271,129 Open Market Sale of Land - Eairy, Archallagan, Foxdale Home Affairs 31/03/2015 27,360 Informal tender 1 & 2 Police Houses, Ballasalla Home Affairs 26/09/2015 1 Internal Transfer
Sale of Land - Sangster's Field Infrastructure 26/08/2015 12,000 Direct Sale of Land - Hillsmeadow Infrastructure 15/12/2017 10,000 Direct Land at Minorca Hill Infrastructure 19/01/2016 5,000 Direct Sale of Land - Eairy, Foxdale Infrastructure 31/03/2015 7,290 Informal tender Sale of Land - Former Coastguard Station Infrastructure 27/11/2015 95,077 Informal tender 45 Harcroft Meadows Infrastructure 15/07/2016 187,500 Open Market - HPAS Apts 8 & 32 Queens Pier Infrastructure 01/08/2016 220,000 Open Market - HPAS Earystane Quarry & Plantation Water & S

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