Family Court Welfare Complaints

Summary

The requester asked for the number of complaints against Family Court Welfare Officers since 2015, but the Department of Home Affairs refused to provide a comprehensive dataset as it would require creating new information. However, the authority voluntarily disclosed specific complaint counts for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Key Facts

• The request was refused under section 11(3)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 because compiling the data would require creating or deriving information.
• There are no written records of complaints against Family Court Welfare Officers dating back to 2015.
• The Department of Home Affairs confirmed two written complaints occurred in 2022.
• No written complaints were recorded in 2023.
• Three written complaints were recorded in 2024.

Data Disclosed

• 2015
• 2022
• 2023
• 2024
• two
• none
• three
• 4442245
• 2025-02-11
• 2025-03-06

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015
• Section 8(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015

Original Request

- Number of complaints against Family Court Welfare Officers since 2015 - If categorisation or further granulation is held (e.g. reason for complaint, resolution etc), please also include this If this is not in the remit of Home Affairs, please advise/redirect

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Coordinator DHA Headquarters Tromode Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 5AP

Telephone: (01624) 687017 Web address: www.gov.im/dha
Email: DPO-DHA@dha.gov.im

Our ref: 4442245 27 February 2025

Dear ###

This request is being handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

We write further to your request received 11 February 2025, which states:

"- Number of complaints against Family Court Welfare Officers since 2015

• If categorisation or further granulation is held (e.g. reason for complaint, resolution etc), please also include this

If this is not in the remit of Home Affairs, please advise/redirect"

While our aim is to is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance a practical refusal reason applies to the information requested under section 11(3)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (“the Act”), as complying with the request for information would require the Family Court Welfare to do one or more of the matters mentioned in section 8(3) of the Act, i.e 8(3)(a) – create or derive information from information that it holds. However, I can confirm that while there are no written records of complaints in respect of Family Court Welfare dating back to 2015, we are aware of two written complaints in 2022, none in 2023, and three in 2024. Please quote the reference number 4442245 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.