King Williams College £2.2m grant/loan

Summary

The request sought details on a £2.2m loan to King William's College, including agreements, repayment schedules, and approval documents. The authority disclosed that no repayments have been made and directed the requester to previous FOI responses for most details, while withholding specific approval documents due to breach of confidence.

Key Facts

• The Department for Enterprise issued a £2.2 million repayable grant/loan to King William's College.
• No amount has been repaid by King William's College to date.
• Details regarding the loan agreement, repayment schedule, interest rate, and conditions were already published in a previous FOI response (ref 4587906).
• Departmental meeting minutes approving the funding were published in a separate previous FOI response (ref 4648817).
• Specific documents approving the funding were withheld under Section 26 of the Act due to potential breach of confidence.

Data Disclosed

• £2.2 million
• 2025-05-22
• 2025-07-08
• 4681062
• 4587906
• 4648817
• Section 26

Exemptions Cited

• Section 26 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Breach of confidence)

Original Request

I am requesting the following information in relation to the £2.2 million repayable grant/loan issued by the Department for Enterprise to King William's College: - A copy of the loan agreement or any contract associated with this funding. - The full repayment schedule, including repayment frequency (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually). - The agreed interest rate, including any grace periods or deferred terms. - The total amount (if any) that has already been repaid to date. - Any conditions or performance metrics tied to the issuance of the loan (e.g. job creation, capital investment). - A copy of any departmental meeting minutes or documents that approved the funding. Any information witheld please can you explain in full why.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686400) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

Our ref: 4681062 8 July 2025

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 22 May 2025, which states:

"I am requesting the following information in relation to the £2.2 million repayable grant/loan issued by the Department for Enterprise to King William's College:

• A copy of the loan agreement or any contract associated with this funding.

• The full repayment schedule, including repayment frequency (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually).

• The agreed interest rate, including any grace periods or deferred terms.

• The total amount (if any) that has already been repaid to date.

• Any conditions or performance metrics tied to the issuance of the loan (e.g. job creation, capital investment).

• A copy of any departmental meeting minutes or documents that approved the funding.

Any information witheld please can you explain in full why."

Our response

Thank you for your request, please find our response below. In relation to the below requests:

“- A copy of the loan agreement or any contract associated with this funding.

• The full repayment schedule, including repayment frequency (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually).

• The agreed interest rate, including any grace periods or deferred terms.

• Any conditions or performance metrics tied to the issuance of the loan (e.g. job creation, capital investment).” 2 | P a g e

I can advise that the above information is already publicly available through a previous Freedom of Information request with the reference 4587906, which was published at the end of May 2025.

Further to your request for:

“The total amount (if any) that has already been repaid to date.

The amount has not been paid by the Department and accordingly, no amount has therefore been repaid by King William’s College.

In relation to your requests for:

• A copy of any departmental meeting minutes or documents that approved the funding.”

In terms of Departmental minutes which approved the funding, I can advise that the above information is already publicly available through a previous Freedom of Information request with the reference 4648817 which was published last week. This response also contains extracts of the report prepared to consider the funding.
Regarding your request for the documents which approved the funding, it is our aim to provide information whenever possible but in this instance the information you have requested has been assessed as being absolutely exempt under section 26 of the Act, as it has been determined that part or all of the information requested, if disclosed would likely constitute an actionable breach of confidence. There is an implicit understanding that a business which makes an application for financial support, does so on the basis that the information supplied and exchanged in relation to that application is confidential. Any such disclosure of that information constitutes a breach of confidence that may result in legal action being brought against the Department.

Please quote the reference number 4681062 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.

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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.