Residential qualification ignored?

Summary

The requester asked for statistics and decision-making details regarding overrides of the five-year residency requirement for three specific benefits over the past ten years. The Department of Health and Social Care responded that the information is not held by them and may be held by the Treasury.

Key Facts

• The request concerns Income-based jobseekers' allowance, Income support, and Employed persons' allowance.
• The Department of Health and Social Care stated they do not hold the requested information.
• The authority suggested the information may be held by the Treasury.
• The response cites Section 11(3)a of the Act as the reason for refusal.
• The case reference number is 3947497.

Data Disclosed

• 3947497
• 2024-07-01
• 2024-07-02
• ten years
• five-year
• Section 11(3)a

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)a of the Act (Information not held)

Original Request

My FOI request concerns the following: Income-based jobseekers' allowance Income support Employed persons' allowance Guidelines for all benefits suggest 'you must satisfy the IOM residential condition'. The clause most pertinent to my FOI request is the five-year continuous residency. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Income-based jobseekers' allowance Webpage for income-based jobseekers' allowance adds 'NORMALLY you must also satisfy the IOM residential condition to qualify for income-based jobseekers' allowance'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Income Support Webpage for Income Support adds 'satisfy the IOM residential condition (though in exceptional circumstances you may get income support even if you DON'T satisfy the IOM residential condition). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Employed persons' allowance Webpage for Employed persons' allowance adds 'if you don't satisfy the residential condition but you do meet the other conditions required for EPA then you MIGHT be entitled to EPA if you can show it would be exceptionally harsh or oppressive to deny you EPA'. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My FOI request is this, and refers equally to all three benefits mentioned above; 1 - over the past ten years how many times has the 'residency requirement' been overridden when considering applications for: a/ income-based jobseekers' allowance, and b/ income support, and c/ employed persons' allowance. 2 - at what level (counter clerk, Minister, or a middle-ranking official?) was the decision taken to override the 'residency requirement' in: a/ income-based jobseekers' allowance, and b/ income support, and c/ employed persons' allowance. 3 - For what reason was the 'residency qualification' overridden in each of the cases, if any cases exist, in: a/ income-based jobseekers' allowance, and b/ income support, and c/ employed persons allowance.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Chief Officer: Paul Richardson Freedom of Information Team First Floor Belgravia House Circular Road Douglas IM1 1AE

Our ref: 3947497 1 July 2024

Dear ###

We write further to your request received 2 July 2024, which states:

"My FOI request concerns the following:

Income-based jobseekers' allowance
Income support
Employed persons' allowance

Guidelines for all benefits suggest 'you must satisfy the IOM residential condition'. The clause most pertinent to my FOI request is the five-year continuous residency.

Income-based jobseekers' allowance

Webpage for income-based jobseekers' allowance adds 'NORMALLY you must also satisfy the IOM residential condition to qualify for income-based jobseekers' allowance'.

Income Support

Webpage for Income Support adds 'satisfy the IOM residential condition (though in exceptional circumstances you may get income support even if you DON'T satisfy the IOM residential condition).

Employed persons' allowance

Webpage for Employed persons' allowance adds 'if you don't satisfy the residential condition but you do meet the other conditions required for EPA then you MIGHT be

entitled to EPA if you can show it would be exceptionally harsh or oppressive to deny you EPA'.

My FOI request is this, and refers equally to all three benefits mentioned above;

1 - over the past ten years how many times has the 'residency requirement' been overridden when considering applications for:

a/ income-based jobseekers' allowance, and

b/ income support, and

c/ employed persons' allowance.

2 - at what level (counter clerk, Minister, or a middle-ranking official?) was the decision taken to override the 'residency requirement' in:

a/ income-based jobseekers' allowance, and

b/ income support, and

c/ employed persons' allowance.

3 - For what reason was the 'residency qualification' overridden in each of the cases, if any cases exist, in:

a/ income-based jobseekers' allowance, and

b/ income support, and

c/ employed persons allowance."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department of Health and Social Care (the Department) is unable to provide the information that you have requested. This is in line with Section 11(3)a of the Act, as a practical refusal reason applies; namely we do not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested as it may be held by the Treasury.

Please quote the reference number 3947497 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.