Settlement Agreements

Summary

The requester asked for statistics and a template regarding Settlement Agreements issued by the Department for Enterprise since September 2021. The authority refused to disclose the data citing personal data exemptions and stated that no blank template exists as agreements are case-specific.

Key Facts

• The Department for Enterprise issued only one settlement agreement between September 2021 and the date of the response.
• Disclosure of the single agreement's details was refused because it would identify the individual involved.
• The department does not hold a blank template for settlement agreements as they are drafted specifically for each case.
• The request was processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2015 and the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018.
• The outcome was classified as 'No information sent - all held but exempt'.

Data Disclosed

• September 2021
• 2024-12-31
• 2025-01-09
• 4339568
• single settlement agreement
• Article 5
• Article 6

Exemptions Cited

• Personal data of which the requester is not the data subject
• Contravention of data protection principles under Article 5 of the GDPR
• Failure to meet conditions for lawful processing under Article 6 of the GDPR
• Information not held (regarding the blank template)

Original Request

Dear Sir, Please may you provide me with the total number of Settlement Agreements that have been issued by the Department for Enterprise between September 2021 and current. Please may this be broken down into a table which categorises the reason for the Settlement Agreement (e.g. disciplinary etc.) and also the monetary compensation figure associated with each respective Settlement Agreement. Lastly, please may you provide me with a blank copy of the Settlement Agreement that is currently on file that would be used as a template to fill in the blanks as per se. Thanks.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

• The Department for Enterprise is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and • The Department for Enterprise is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Department for Enterprise can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, the Department considers that none of those conditions have been met. As the Department has only issued a single settlement agreement for the early termination of an employment contract by the Department, in the period the provision of the information as requested would potentially identify the individual with whom the settlement was reached.
Regarding the provision of “a blank copy of the Settlement Agreement that is currently on file that would be used as a template to fill in the blanks per se”, whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested, as we do not hold a blank copy of a settlement agreement as these would be drafted specifically to cover each case.

Please quote the reference number 4339568 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.

2 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