Anonymised survey responses

Summary

The requester asked for anonymized survey responses regarding a government conference promoted on social media. The Cabinet Office disclosed the data, including quantitative attendance figures and qualitative feedback on content and execution, though the response was marked as partially exempt.

Key Facts

• The survey asked respondents about their attendance at conference sessions.
• Respondents provided feedback on missing elements such as catering, content relevance, and presentation quality.
• Criticism was directed at the use of acronyms and the perceived lack of future-focused insights.
• Some attendees reported physical discomfort due to red striped lighting in the Promenade Suite.
• The response included data on session attendance ranging from 0 to 20 sessions.

Data Disclosed

• 2024-05-17
• 2024-06-17
• 12 respondents attended 1 session
• 9 respondents attended 2 sessions
• 7 respondents attended 3 sessions
• 10 respondents attended 4 sessions
• 9 respondents attended 5 sessions
• 5 respondents attended 6 sessions
• 2 respondents attended 7 sessions
• 1 respondent attended 8 sessions
• 1 respondent attended 10 sessions
• 1 respondent attended 12 sessions
• 1 respondent attended 14 sessions
• 1 respondent attended 17 sessions
• 1 respondent attended 20 sessions
• 21 pages
• 2 documents

Original Request

I request the (anonymous) survey responses made to this survey here: https://surveymonkey.com/r/3BVKJMG It was promoted by the Isle of Man Government online here: https://x.com/IOMGovernment/status/1705238456899690756?s = 20

Data Tables (14)

Full Response Text

14

Appendix

Appendix 1 - Question 1: Did you attend any sessions, if so how many?
Number of sessions Number of respondents 0

1 12 2 9 3 7 4 10 5 9 6 5 7 2 8 1 10 1 12 1 14 1 17 1 20 1

Additional qualitative responses:
2 days All of them All of Thursday All the royal hall Both Days
I unfortunately ended up being unwell and could not make it - but I did send one of my colleagues to the sessions and in this way at least had some of the information. No No. None None The Housing conference Wednesday evening Wednesday evening and Thursday morning Wednesday evening in Royal hall Wednesday night Yes, Wednesday night. I had planned to attend Thursday however work issues prevented me from doing so. Youth Impact Summit

25

Appendix 5 - Question 6: Was there anything you feel was missing from the conference that could be improved? Response Category Yes somewhere that sells decent coffee like a cappuccino
Catering Water and more food Catering I would like to see a focus on woman in Govt and names of some of the sessions didn't really speak to the lay person. Content How a balanced budget will be achieved using 'real' figures e.g. with a properly funded health service Content I thought the Mott Macdonald presentation wasn’t helpful. It seemed like a sales pitch for them, I, not sure how projects in Jersey and Kew Gardens has any relevance to the Island and the information imparted was probably already known by those in the audience. I local project would have been more relevant and interesting. Content Acceptance of slido questions and more diversity of thought on stage Content I would like to hear more from the senior civil servants also the auditor general. Content Yes, lots of dull speeches, poor content, PowerPoint slides you could not read, too many words Content infrastructure... but not intended as a prime target for these sessions
Content It would be helpful if the civil servants stopped the endless acronyms so the public can follow what is being talked about. Content I thought the attendance was poor in the Royal Hall. Also the presentations were quite dry. Perhaps provide guidance on presentation skills; no of words to have on a slide etc. Or look to see if you can sign-up dome more inspiring speakers?! Content Yes, an effective for alternative policies to be discussed
Content I honestly think more people need yo hear the messages. The moanin line is not taken seriously sadly So you need to find a better way of informing all the public The Covid briefings worked You should think about doing a monthly briefing with questions being put by constituents. There is so much misinformation out there online and unfortunately people believe it.
Content People who had a genuine insight in to the future of education & skills on this island. All I heard was things that had happened in the past, not looking towards the future. Everything that was said could have been read in the news. Not what I thought a government conference should have been about. Content Yes honesty Content Moving it to weekend so more members of the public maybe able to attend. Felt it was all people that worked for government. Not many members of public present ? Execution Not missing, but the red striped lighting in the promenade suit was very difficult for me to stand so I didn't attend one of the sessions I was hoping to as I had a headache. Execution The option to submit questions before the event. Execution The stripped red lights in the prom suite were difficult to look at. Execution most groups who attended the conference stayed within their own bubble. More needs to be done to get people to engage with others in a structured manner by the organisers rather than leaving it to individuals or groups of individuals to manage engagement themselves. Execution 26

no roaming microphone available in the royal hall from questions from the floor , people with questions had to shout , some panels members boring and obviously not in tune with what is required for the isle of Mans future workforce
Execution Networking pre conference opening I think should have been hosted, the buzz on the way in was good, but arriving fairly early on the Colonnade suite didn’t have many people and tables were empty.
Execution The general standard of presentations was very good and where I felt there could be improvements was around the details and the 'bigger picture'. For example, the initial presentation on Thursday from the Treasury Minister excellently explained the financial situation and the need for expenditure which impacted on reserves. However, when attending subsequent individual presentations the tie in to the financial situation was not always apparent. Also, the presentation entitled funding the cost of nursing and residential care was very light on nursing and instead focused on home care and cost of residential care. Also, despite being one of the shortest presentations, the panel were asked several questions from the presenter, significantly reducing the amount of time for audience questions. The renewables presentation was very well done but there was very little feedback from the CEO and it would have been good to hear more from him. Also, the panel Q&A on reshaping foundations involved a significant amount of time on a question that was interesting but of little value - that being if any project could be done, what would you like to see happen. The time spent by the panel telling us about historic attractions in Port Erin, Port Soderick and the like, could have been spent on going into more detail on current projects.
Panel This conference was introduced as opportunity for us to speak to politicians with our thoughts. In reality there was not enough time after presentations were delivered for public to ask their questions. Also it would be better if more working people could attend so do it at a weekend. Panel In the workshops there was not enough time for Q&A and this frustrated a lot of people especially in the Visit IoM session. And there was no moderator for the questions either. There needs to be someone between the audience and the panel to moderate the discussion and make it a proper discussion not just a few minutes.
Panel There were some sessions where the presentation could have been better suited to the venue and audience e.g. the Education Summary on Day 1 was very dry and difficult to follow, even for someone interested in the topic.
Some of the panel sessions and Q&As could have been more focused on ensuring audience interests were addressed: there were plenty of questions on Slido and those wanting to ask questions from the floor in the sessions I attended, but too much time spent was given over to questions from the moderator in some sessions. I think the moderators could have been a bit tougher on both panellists and those asking questions from the floor to keep them on point. It's not unreasonable to ask participants to keep their questions/responses clear and concise, especially given the limited time available. Panel More Q&A sessions, let keynote speakers, don't do it in the royal hall, focus more on cinema and promenade and make it intimate Panel More time for questions from the public as opposed to questions from the stage Panel 27

At the end of every session I attended, there was an opportunity for Q&A, however most sessions, time was taken up by people not really wanting to ask a question, but to make a personal grievance or point. Panel Q&A too short. Should do it on the weekend as communities will be at work. An opportunity to showcase, have stands, sponsors and be more engaging
Panel More questions from the public Panel No time for the online questions submitted. Unable to attend during the working day
Panel I had the impression that this was an opportunity for the public to talk directly to the people responsible for making the decisions which affect our children but then after all the speeches and chatting amongst themselves (billed as question time for the public) there was only time for around 4 questions!!
Panel More time should have been allocated to questions and answers.
Panel UCM to be on the skills panel to answer courses questions as the panel did not know Panel More time for questions. Submitted questions on Slido never got answered due to time running out for questions around the room which could not be submitted via Slido. We were informed they would appear a website but still no communication on this. Panel Yes, question times were not sufficient and the use of abbreviations and acronyms did not allow for the audiences lack of specialist knowledge. Panel Longer sessions really involving the government members and attendees in discussion Panel Time to answer questions instead most time was spent answering questions that were already prepared
Panel Panel members with opposing views not DESC lackeys who would not in that forum criticize the DESC MLC and Treasury Minister. Panel General Improvement - the presentations should run consecutively throughout the day WITHOUT conflicting start/end times of breakout sessions. It was silly having to part-participate in some events when others had start times which did not coincide appropriately. The evening session on Wednesday worked reasonably well but it would be better to run all sessions sequentially (grouped by subject) in the main hall to avoid delegates having to miss parts of some presentations or having to attend either/or where both were relevant and should have been available Programme No - I felt, if anything that there was too much going on. Programme Would help if the timings across the different rooms were in sync. Well done on engaging with the public and others like local authorities. Even if some disagree with government proposals it is very useful to air those views. This was very useful. Thank you. Programme The key sessions overlapped which should not be the case as your were leaving 10 before end to get to the start of another Programme i think it was unfortunate that some interesting sessions clashed timewise Programme Timing of sessions so can attend more
Programme It was impossible to get to hear from the treasury or the health side as they clashed with the education talk. (Thursday night one) I could not attend the day time sessions. Can a recording not be put on you tube so you can watch at a time convenient to yourself ? Programme 28

It was a shame that so many sessions overlapped, I missed some that I wanted to see because they clashed and/or overlapped with others I also wanted to attend Programme Don’t have overlapping start and finish times across different sessions in different rooms. This is conference 101! 40 min work shops were too short. They were a 20 min presentation then a pre-prepared question for each panel member leaving only a few minutes for any actual discussion. That was very bad.
Programme Yes the session I attended was marked as a drop on session so I would have liked more time for discussion and debate. There was a clash with the other Energy related session Energy Efficiency in the home which I would have liked to attend.
Programme No, but had to choose which topics to attend, and thereby missing out on others. Programme . N/A No N/A

N/A Truthful politicians
N/A The Minister of Education - running scared? N/A A purpose
N/A It seems it’s a conference so civil servants can have time off and I see no need for it .
N/A Yes the whole thing was a PR sham N/A A reason to attend again N/A

N/A The panel sessions were pre determined in their questions, this wasn’t helpful for those who attended who wanted to understand specific answers
N/A

N/A real, legitimate, engagement
N/A My Manx Gaelic spelling approach appears to have been hacked and not mentioned in your gov.im survey or conclusion of IOMGC23. Manx Gaelic talks and speeches on progress made in Manx Gaelic spelling reviews and reports through Manx Gaelic [=using Irish language spelling] and English (IOM) needs to be placed on all Government conferences going forward. c N/A I didn’t attend.
N/A - N/A Did you invite home educated a level students to the youth summit? If not why not? N/A No N/A

N/A

N/A Having been a first term attendee, I was very impressed by the engagement of the panelists and the participants. Nothing missed from my point of view. N/A No. N/A Action N/A

N/A

N/A It was too much talking at the kids and not enough break out or specific sessions. All of the programme was very similar with the same messages being repeated. Youth impact summit 29

It would be good for all island secondary schools to have been invited in order to ensure fairness and to show a genuine desire to engage with those who are the future of the island. Youth impact summit

Appendix 6 – Question 6: Were there any topics you wanted to find out more about but that were not covered?
Response Category Legislation, and it’s progress
Cabinet Office Details of immigration & how the IOM infrastructure & services are going to cope with extra residents
Cabinet Office We have announced a Climate Emergency. Why did the Climate Transformation Board not have a slot? DEFA Possibly "green" topics DEFA What protection against development is planned (if any) for areas of outstanding natural beauty on the Isle of Man? DEFA Both the Visit IoM and Finance sessions highlighted that the Biosphere is the IoMs USP. As an important and unique part of what we have, the fact that the Biosphere was not present at all was a big GAP. The Biosphere should be first and foremost in these conferences in the future as I imagine the 6th formers have said too? Otherwise well done. But I think you should also consider having a forum at the next conference where serious issues of the day can be aired and discussed as many people are suffering with hospital waiting times etc and the Nurses are left to suffer too and these issues need to be covered in conference and not just a look to the future. This will help for credibility of a very welcome open style. Thank you. Well done.
DEFA More on sustainability, biosphere and genuine protection of our countryside and biosphere status also future status of island with moneyval DEFA The environmental - energy efficiency scheme was interesting but would have liked to have seen some political support.
DEFA Would have liked to have learned more about waste strategy.
DEFA Green initiatives DEFA Maintaining the environment and cultural integrity
DEFA/DESC Visions for the future. Great changes are taking

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