Payments received by payment type across Govt

Summary

A request for summarized government payments by type and department was made to the Isle of Man Treasury. The authority refused to fulfill the request because the applicant failed to provide necessary clarifications regarding specific payment types and time periods within the statutory 28-day limit.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 29 June 2017 and the outcome was issued on 31 July 2017.
• The Treasury requested clarification on specific payment types and the time period for the data on 30 June 2017.
• The applicant did not respond to the clarification request within the required 28 days.
• The refusal was issued under section 11(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The applicant was advised to submit a new, more clearly described request.

Data Disclosed

• 29 June 2017
• 30 June 2017
• 31 July 2017
• 28 days
• 1st April 2016
• IM93419I
• section 11(2)(c)
• section 14(2)

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (failure to comply with notice for additional information)

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

The Treasury

Yn Tashtey

REFERENCE NUMBER: IM93419I REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2015 (“the Act”)

I write further to your request dated 29 June 2017 which requested the following information: -

summarised payments received by payment type (cash / cheque / debit card / credit card / online banking / parentpay / digital currency) by meaningful dept section by at least financial year but ideally by month to surface national trends, seasonal fluctuations in demand, nuances in payment preferences in public service delivery, etc

for example, mostly by debit card at the NSC (demographic), mostly by cash at bus vannin, mostly by cheque at Companies Registry (corporate) and mostly by credit card re water rates?

I subsequently wrote to you on the 30 June requesting clarification as follows: -

1. The specific types of payments you are interested in To assist in the search please could you identify the payments types you would like to include in the scope of your request? Across the Treasury a significant number of different payments are received and in order that we are able to reasonably collate the information you require, clarification of the payments types you are interested in is needed.

2. The time period for the payments received.
   To ensure we seek to provide you with relevant information, please could you clarify the time period for which you require the information? For example, you may wish the information to cover the financial year commencing 1st April 2016 only, or alternatively, you may wish for the information to cover more than one financial year.

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: 31 July 2017

Under section 11(2)(c) of the Act, Grant of requests for information, a public authority may refuse to give an applicant information requested if an applicant has failed to comply with the notice for additional information within 28 days (in accordance with section 14(2) of the Act).

Unfortunately, as you have not provided the clarification requested on 30 June, I am unable to proceed further with your request at this time.

If you wish to submit a new request which more clearly describes the information you are looking for, we will be able to consider your request and respond accordingly. If you need any further advice and assistance to make a new application, please contact me.

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 above address. An electronic version and paper version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website: https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/.
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: 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 the following website: https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of- information/.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Coordinator, the Treasury