NSC non-transferable non-refundable bookings policy

AuthorityDepartment of Education, Sport and Culture
Date received2024-05-07
OutcomeSome information sent but not all held
Outcome date2024-05-21
Case ID3842377

Summary

The requester sought the start date, meeting records, and no-show statistics for the National Sports Centre's non-transferable, non-refundable booking policy. The Department of Education, Sport and Culture disclosed the current policy document but stated that historical meeting records and specific no-show statistics are not held due to the policy's age and system limitations.

Key Facts

  • The NSC Book and Pay Policy has been in place for approximately 15 years.
  • Meeting notes and agendas regarding the policy introduction are not held on file.
  • Statistics on transferred or refunded bookings that prompted the policy are not retained.
  • The NSC does not record no-show statistics for badminton bookings because customers are not required to scan their MSR Scorecard upon entry.
  • The current software package cannot generate reports on unbooked badminton availability.

Data Disclosed

  • 15 years
  • 2024-05-07
  • 2024-05-21
  • 10/10/2016
  • 21/01/2020
  • 8:30am
  • 7 days
  • 65+
  • 0-18
  • 18+

Exemptions Cited

  • Information not held or cannot be found after taking reasonable steps
  • Records not held in line with the Department's retention schedule

Original Request

Please supply information on the NSC non-transferable non-refundable bookings policy start date, the meeting agenda that includes the item to consider the policy, agenda item attachments, extract of the meeting minutes to include any statistics on the number of transferred or refunded bookings that prompted the policy. Please supply statistics of no shows for non-transferable non-refundable badminton bookings (or state they are not recorded as such and any implications in fire etc evacuations) and availability of unbooked badminton bookings in the calendar year to date.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Ref: REC18a Issued: 10/10/2016 Issue No: 2 Last Reviewed: 21/01/2020

Page 1 of 1 NATIONAL SPORTS CENTRE Groves Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 1RB Tel: +44 (1624) 688588 Email: nsc@gov.im NSC Book & Pay Policy Please note that the National Sports Centre operates a book & pay policy for bookings.
This greatly improves our service by reducing the amount of sessions lost & ultimately makes more space available for hire. 1. Payment must be made at the time of booking; this affects casual bookings for sports halls, bowls hall, squash & outdoors; all class and swim scheme bookings.

  1. If in receipt of a concessionary rate (Senior 65+, Junior 0- 18, DLA recipient, Serving Military, Full time student 18+) only one court is permitted to be booked at the same time. Multiple courts can be booked, but this will be at the standard rate.
  2. When booking over the phone you will be asked for your MSR Scorecard number & credit/debit card details for payment.
  3. Please note the receptionist will ask you security questions to confirm your identity during the payment process.

 Casual court and class bookings may be made 7 days in advance from 8:30am.  Please note that bookings are non-transferable and non-refundable this may be reviewed under management discretion in exceptional circumstances (e.g. medical reasons).


Policy, Strategy and Governance Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Thie Slieau Whallian Foxdale Road St Johns IM4 3AS

Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im

Our ref: 3842377 21 May 2024

Dear ###,

We write further to your request, received 7 May 2024, which states:

"Please supply information on the NSC non-transferable non-refundable bookings policy start date, the meeting agenda that includes the item to consider the policy, agenda item attachments, extract of the meeting minutes to include any statistics on the number of transferred or refunded bookings that prompted the policy.

Please supply statistics of no shows for non-transferable non-refundable badminton bookings (or state they are not recorded as such and any implications in fire etc evacuations) and availability of unbooked badminton bookings in the calendar year to date."

Our response to your request is as follows:

Please supply information on the NSC non-transferable non-refundable bookings policy start date, the meeting agenda that includes the item to consider the policy, agenda item attachments, extract of the meeting minutes to include any statistics on the number of transferred or refunded bookings that prompted the policy While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested. By way of advice and assistance: • The NSC Book and Pay Policy has been in place for approximately 15 years.
• Meeting notes and agendas for the book and pay policy are not held on file due to the time the policy was introduced.
• Information relating to the number of transferred or refunded bookings that prompted the policy are not held as records, in line with the Department’s retention schedule.

Please supply statistics of no shows for non-transferable non-refundable badminton bookings (or state they are not recorded as such and any implications in fire etc

evacuations) and availability of unbooked badminton bookings in the calendar year to date. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested. By way of advice and assistance: • The NSC does not hold statistics for book and pay no-shows for non- transferrable or non- refundable badminton bookings. When a customer pays for a casual booking on the booking system they are not required to scan their MSR SCORE Card at reception and therefore it is not possible to identify whether the customer(s) has used their allocated court space and time. • Some bookings may be affected with the occasional fire evacuation and when this has happened customers have returned to their courts after being permitted to re-enter the building.
• Sports Hall Courts made available for casual use are not specific for badminton only use, they are available for a number of sports to book. The current software package does not provide a report that can pull the requested information from the system.

Further information

For information please find enclosed a copy of the current Book and Pay Policy.

The Book and Pay policy is displayed on the reception counter and is available on the NSC’s website.

The NSC’s answer machine also makes reference to the book and pay policy in stating “Please note, the National Sports Centre operates a book and pay policy for all casual bookings, which is non–transferable and non-refundable”.

Please quote the reference number 3842377 in any future communications.

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.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . 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.

I will now close your request as of this date.