Consultants.

Summary

The requester asked for the total amount paid to consultants over the last 12 months, including unpaid invoices. The Department of Infrastructure disclosed the total revenue expenditure on external consultancy for the 2017-2018 financial year but stated it could not provide a specific list of consultant payments or quantify unpaid invoices due to system limitations.

Key Facts

• The total revenue expenditure posted to an External Consultancy budget code between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018 was £604,524.60 (net of VAT).
• The disclosed figure relates only to revenue spend, not capital expenditure.
• The government finance system does not record the category of supplier, preventing a specific report on payments to consultants without additional information like names.
• Unpaid invoices cannot be quantified as they do not appear on the finance system before payment is made.
• The requester declined to narrow the definition of their request when asked.

Data Disclosed

• £604,524.60
• 1st April 2017
• 31st March 2018
• 3 April 2018
• 13 April 2018
• 418935

Original Request

Can you please advise of the total amount on monies paid to consultants including ones where payment is due over the last 12 months

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Co-ordinator Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: foi.doi@gov.im

Our ref: 418935 13 April 2018

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 3 April 2018 and which states (clarification in blue):

"Can you please advise of the total amount on monies paid to consultants including ones where payment is due over the last 12 months You were asked if you could narrow the definition of your request, but declined to do so"

I am pleased to supply below the information that we hold which relates to your request: We can advise that the value of all DOI revenue expenditure between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2018 which was posted to an External Consultancy budget code was £604,524.60 (net of VAT). It is important to note that this figure relates to revenue spend, not capital expenditure. The Government finance system does not record the category of supplier and we are therefore unable to produce a report showing all payments made specifically to consultants without being supplied with additional information, such as name. We are unable to quantify the value of any unpaid invoices as they do not appear on the finance system before payment.

Please quote the reference number 418935 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 to us at
Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Co-ordinator

Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: foi.doi@gov.im

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.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Response Team