documents over 25 years old temporarily returned to DHA in 2021

Original Request

Further to response #3705689 disclosed email about public records consignments in storage that included documents dated 1994 and 1995, please supply (1) all recorded information in emails, filenotes, the CALMS database or elsewhere under Public Records Act 1999 section 3(10) in order to temporarily return 1994 and 1995 documents in 2021 beyond the 1996 25 years prescribed period to DHA to rationalise the request, purpose and period of unsupervised possession of documents and (2) any measures to prevent the loss of any documents such as recorded weights of archive boxes or manual audit document counts. Third party disclosure Order vs DfE - #### v #### (DENT.955) 27 April 2022 17:51 .... The Department of Home Affairs removed all their consigned records from the Record Office last year (those that were not formally admitted to the Record Office and were held at PRO simply for storage).

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Registries Building • Deemsters Walk • Bucks Road • Douglas • Isle of Man • IM1 3AR www.gov.im/centralregistry

xxxx
xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx
Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686400) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

Our ref: 4004961 31 July 2024

Dear xxxx We write further to your request, received 23 July 2024, which states:
“Further to response #3705689 disclosed email about public records consignments in storage that included documents dated 1994 and 1995, please supply (1) all recorded information in emails, filenotes, the CALMS database or elsewhere under Public Records Act 1999 section 3(10) in order to temporarily return 1994 and 1995 documents in 2021 beyond the 1996 25 years prescribed period to DHA to rationalise the request, purpose and period of unsupervised possession of documents and (2) any measures to prevent the loss of any documents such as recorded weights of archive boxes or manual audit document counts.

Third party disclosure Order vs DfE - $$$$ v $$$$ (DENT.955)

27 April 2022 17:51

....

The Department of Home Affairs removed all their consigned records from the Record Office last year (those that were not formally admitted to the Record Office and were held at PRO simply for storage)."

Our response to your request is as follows:
In answer to your request, no recorded information is held under section 3(10) of the Public Records Act 1999 in relation to records returned by the Public Record Office to the Department of Home Affairs in 2021.
The records returned to the Department of Home Affairs by the Public Record Office in 2021 were not formally transferred to the Public Record Office under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1999. As such, section 3(10) of the Public Records Act Page | 2

1999 did not apply to their removal. Section 3(10) of the Public Records Act 1999 only applies to records transferred to the Record Office. Instead, all records returned to the Department of Home Affairs in 2021 were, prior to their return, stored in archive accommodation under section 3(8) of the Public Records Act 1999 by the Registrar General. Section 3(8) of the Public Records Act 1999 specifies that these records are held ‘otherwise than as part of the Record Office’. As such, the records remained in the ownership of the Department for Home Affairs, despite being stored in Record Office accommodation. Despite this legal technicality, to satisfy the spirit of your request, we enclose all information held relating to the removal of Department of Home Affairs’ records from the accommodation at the Record Office in 2021.

Part 1 of your request The records removed by the Department of Home Affairs in 2021 were consignment numbers C15, C50, C51, C91, C92, C115, C134, C419 and C689. A Freedom of Information Act 2015 section 25 exemption (absolutely exempt personal information) has been applied to the information enclosed and so any personal information about staff members has been redacted.
The section 25 exemption (absolutely exempt personal information) has also been applied to the names of prison detainees included in the tick list (point 8 below) and these have been redacted. In summary, please find enclosed in the PDF bundle: 1.
Extracts from the Public Record Office disposal log relating to the removal of these consignments in 2021. 2.
A file note recording the return of consignments C15, C50, C51, C91, C115, C134, C419 and C689 to the Department of Home Affairs on 27 May 2021. 3. Email correspondence of Public Record Office staff members with the Isle of Man Constabulary, and between Public Record Office staff members, concerning the return of C15, C50, C51, C91, C115, C134, C419 and C698. The e-mails are dated:
- Emails and replies to the Constabulary: 26 Jan 2021-23 February 2021 (one e-mail thread);
- Email and reply between Public Record Office team members: 25th-26th May 2021; - Email to the Constabulary: 27 May 2021; - Email to the Constabulary: 1 June 2021. 4.
A spreadsheet of police record store locations for removal 26 May 2021.

Registries Building • Deemsters Walk • Bucks Road • Douglas • Isle of Man • IM1 3AR www.gov.im/centralregistry

1. Email of a Public Record Office staff member to the Prison Service regarding the return and disposal of C92 Gatekeeper's Occurrence Books 17 May 2021.
2. CALM Records Management database entries for consignment numbers C15, C50, C51, C91, C92, C115, C134, C419 and C689.
3. Extracted entries from the Public Record Office consignment record book (paper record) for consignment numbers C15, C50, C51, C91, C92, C115, C134, C419 and C689.

4. Three documents related to the return of C92 Gatekeeper’s Occurrence Books to the Prison Service, as follows:

5. a File Note, dated 9 June 2021 recording their return to the Prison Service;

6. an informal tick list used by the Public Record Office team member as the records were removed;

7. a list of C92 box numbers with details of the removal of boxes recorded.

In part one of your request, you refer to ‘unsupervised possession of documents’. I can confirm that there were no periods of unsupervised possession of documents in relation to records returned to the Department of Home Affairs. The records were removed from our stores under the supervision of the Public Record Office staff and were passed directly into the possession of the Department of Home Affairs Police Registry and Prison Service.

Part 2 of your request In part two of your request, you ask for ‘any measures to prevent the loss of any documents such as recorded weights of archive boxes or manual audit document counts’.
No recorded information is held by the Public Record Office in respect to this part of your request. The records returned to the Department of Home Affairs in 2021 were transferred from one secure storage location (the Public Record Office archive stores) to another secure storage location (premises of the Department of Home Affairs) under the direct supervision of Public Record Office and Department of Home Affairs staff. As such, loss of documents was highly unlikely and so measures such as weighing or auditing of box contents were unnecessary.

Please quote the reference number 4004961 in any future communications.

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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.

This response took nine hours to formulate.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Co-Ordinator