Etio Reports

Summary

A request was made for the total spending and expense breakdown for Etio reports by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture, but all information was withheld.

Key Facts

• The Department of Education, Sport and Culture holds the requested information regarding Etio spending.
• The information was refused under Section 30 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The exemption was applied because disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of the Department and Etio.
• The Department is currently in year two of a three-year contract with Etio for external validation.
• The public interest test concluded that withholding the data was necessary to protect future tender processes and commercial relationships.

Data Disclosed

• 2025-05-20
• 2025-06-18
• Section 30
• year two
• three-year contract

Exemptions Cited

• Section 30 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Commercial Interests)

Original Request

Dear DESC, I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2015: Please provide the total amount of money the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) has spent to date on obtaining reports from Etio (formerly known as Tribal). I would be grateful if this could be broken down by financial year, from the first year in which Etio (or Tribal) was contracted by the DESC, up to and including the most recent payment made. Please may you also provide the total amount of money paid in expenses to accommodate Etio inspectors who visit the schools and travel to the Isle of Man. (E.g. travel, hotels, meals etc.). If you require any further clarification, I would appreciate being contacted to enable me to refine the request - similarly if any part falls outside the scope of the Act, I would appreciate your assistance in refining the request. Thank-you.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Policy, Strategy and Governance Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Thie Slieau Whallian Foxdale Road St Johns IM4 3AS

Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im

Our ref: 4666797 18th June 2025

Dear ###,

We write further to your request, received 20 May 2025, which states:

"Dear DESC,

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2015:

Please provide the total amount of money the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) has spent to date on obtaining reports from Etio (formerly known as Tribal).

I would be grateful if this could be broken down by financial year, from the first year in which Etio (or Tribal) was contracted by the DESC, up to and including the most recent payment made.

Please may you also provide the total amount of money paid in expenses to accommodate Etio inspectors who visit the schools and travel to the Isle of Man. (E.g. travel, hotels, meals etc.).

If you require any further clarification, I would appreciate being contacted to enable me to refine the request - similarly if any part falls outside the scope of the Act, I would appreciate your assistance in refining the request.

Thank-you."

Our response to your request is as follows:

Please provide the total amount of money the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) has spent to date on obtaining reports from Etio (formerly known as Tribal).

I would be grateful if this could be broken down by financial year, from the

first year in which Etio (or Tribal) was contracted by the DESC, up to and including the most recent payment made.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the information is exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Act as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Department of Education, Sport and Culture and a third party, Etio.

The exemption applies to the value of the contract between the Department of Education, Sport and Culture and Etio. Disclosure would be likely to place Etio at a commercial disadvantage, as their competition would be provided insight into sensitive commercial information which could be used to undermine their competitive position in the Market and lead to a material impact on Etio’s business.

As section 30 is a qualified exemption, it is subject to a public interest test (below). The public interest must be something that is of serious concern and benefit to the public at large.

Factors in favour of disclosure

• Accountability for the spending of public funds. Ensuring that public money is being used effectively, and Departments are getting value for money when purchasing services.

• Accountability – There is a need to ensure that commercial activities are conducted in an open and honest manner.

Factors in favour of withholding

• The external validation is presently live and ongoing. The Department is currently in year two of a three-year contract.

• Ensuring that the Government and the Department is getting value for money when purchasing goods and services within a tender process. It is not in the public interest for information to be disclosed that would impact Government and Departmental spending.

• The Department’s ability to obtain the best financial outcomes from a quick quote process requires a level starting position for all tenderers. If the cost is released this would provide an indication to all businesses who tender for projects in future and would therefore likely impact the Department’s ability to obtain the best value for money (from public funds).

• There is also a need to protect the commercial interests of the private sector, which plays an important role in the general health of the economy.

• Disclosure of the information would be likely to cause Etio a level of commercial disadvantage, by providing competitors with sensitive commercial information which could then be used to undermine the contractors competitive position in the market.

• Disclosure of the information would likely place the contractor at a competitive disadvantage in negotiating future contracts and would prejudice its commercial interests to a significant extent.

• It is not in the public interest for the Department of Education, sport and culture’s working relationship to be prejudiced by the disclosure of the information.

In taking these factors into account the Department of Education, Sport and Culture determined that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information.

Please may you also provide the total amount of money paid in expenses to accommodate Etio inspectors who visit the schools and travel to the Isle of Man. (E.g. travel, hotels, meals etc.).

While 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 the information that you have requested. The reason for this is the Department does not hold information with regards to Etio’s travel and accommodation arrangements.

By way of advice and assistance the charges as set out within the contract include travel and accommodation costs of the contractor for the provision of the services throughout the term of the contract. As such, the Department does not require a copy of Etio’s expenses for travel or accommodation. Therefore, A practical refusal reason applies under sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) and we are unable to remove the practical refusal reason.

Advice and Assistance

Whilst we are unable to disclose the exact information requested due to the identified harm outlined within the above public interest test, we can confirm that the total cost of the contract to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture over the three years of its duration is between £150,000 and £250,000.

This price includes all costs of travel, accommodation and expenses of the external validation team plus compilation of the information collated following completion of external validation visits on each school or educational service, and the annual overviews.

Please quote the reference number 4666797 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.

Yours sincerely,