Use of Santon school monies for new Diocesan C of E school

Summary

The request sought confirmation of discussions regarding relocating St Thomas' school to the Santon site or using Diocesan funds for Scooil Vallajeelt. The Department confirmed meetings took place but withheld minutes and correspondence due to practical refusal, legal privilege, and public business exemptions.

Key Facts

• A meeting on 17 October 2017 discussed relocating St Thomas' school to the Santon Professional Development Centre but deemed it unviable due to ongoing training needs.
• A meeting on 31 October 2017 between the Minister, Arch-Deacon, and Bishop discussed financial commitments from the Church for Scooil Vallajeelt.
• No formal minutes were taken for the meetings, leading to a practical refusal under section 11(3)(a).
• Correspondence with legal representatives was withheld under section 40 due to legal professional privilege.
• Correspondence regarding the conduct of public business was withheld under section 35 to preserve free and frank exchange of views.

Data Disclosed

• 17 October 2017
• 31 October 2017
• 14 May 2018
• 11 June 2018
• 467436
• section 11(3)(a)
• section 40
• section 35

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) - Practical refusal (no formal minutes)
• Section 40 - Legal professional privilege
• Section 35 - Conduct of public business

Original Request

Can the Department for Education, Sport and Culture confirm whether, during it's conversations and meetings with interested parties about the re-location of St Thomas school, any discussions took place regarding the possible re-location of the school to the former Church of England school in Santon (currently the being used as the 'Santon Professional Development Centre') or the use of the monies available to the Diocese from that site, to be used for educational purposes, to help with the costs of the work due to be undertaken at Scooil Vallajeelt. If so, when, with whom and what conclusions were reached. If it is easier or possible, you can provide minutes or correspondence of those meetings or the URL where they maybe found on-line.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Corporate Services Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Hamilton House Peel Road, Douglas IM1 5EZ Telephone: (01624) 685808
Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im
Our ref: 467436 11 June 2018

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 14 May 2018 and which states:

"Can the Department for Education, Sport and Culture confirm whether, during it's conversations and meetings with interested parties about the re-location of St Thomas school, any discussions took place regarding the possible re-location of the school to the former Church of England school in Santon (currently the being used as the 'Santon Professional Development Centre') or the use of the monies available to the Diocese from that site, to be used for educational purposes, to help with the costs of the work due to be undertaken at Scooil Vallajeelt. If so, when, with whom and what conclusions were reached. If it is easier or possible, you can provide minutes or correspondence of those meetings or the URL where they may be found on-line."

Our response to your request is as follows:

Information provided I can confirm that a meeting was held on 17 October 2017 between the Department’s Legal and Administration Manager and the legal representative for the Trustees of St Thomas’ Church in which relocation of St Thomas’ school to the Department’s Santon Professional Development Centre (located at Santon Old School) was discussed as an option. However in these discussions it was determined that the Department still had an ongoing need for use of the Santon Centre for the ongoing training and professional development of teaching and other staff and it was therefore not considered to be a viable option for relocation of St Thomas’ school. A further meeting took place on the 31 October 2017 between the Minister, Mr Corkish MLC and the Arch-Deacon and subsequently the Bishop which included discussions about the need for a financial commitment from the Church towards the development of Scoill Vallajeelt to accommodate St Thomas’ pupils.

Information not provided Practical refusal reason - While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance your request for copies of minutes from the above meetings is subject to a practical refusal reason under section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) as no formal minutes were taken. Section 40 exemption - In any event, and additionally, in relation to your request for copies of correspondence relating to the meeting with the legal representative of the trustees, this information is exempt from disclosure under section 40 of the Act as it is information which is subject to legal professional privilege. Section 35 exemption - It is also considered that any correspondence concerning the above meetings relates to the conduct of public business which is subject to an additional exemption under section 35 of the Act. Disclosure of the information would prejudice the work of the Department and the effective conduct of public business by inhibiting the free and frank provision of advice or the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. Public interest test As sections 35 and 40 are qualified exemptions, they are subject to a public interest test. The public interest must be something that is of serious concern and benefit to the public at large. The matters which were considered in applying the public interest test are as follows: Factors in favour of disclosure:- • Transparency of options explored and related decision making • Evidence of background research undertaken

Factors in favour of withholding • Disclosure of the correspondence could attract a potential claim against the Department for breach of professional legal privilege • Withholding the information is necessary to preserve ongoing/future free and frank provision of advice, which would prejudice the effective conduct of public business • Withholding the information is necessary to preserve ongoing/future free and frank exchange of views, which would prejudice the effective conduct of public business

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 quote the reference number 467436 in any future communications.

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Yours sincerely