Official secrets act

Summary

The requester asked for statistics on Manx Care employees and contractors who have signed the Official Secrets Act, broken down by staff category. Manx Care responded that the information is not held because signing the Act is mandatory for all employees, so no specific data is collated, and no data exists for contractors.

Key Facts

• Signing the Official Secrets Act is a mandatory pre-employment check for all new starters at Manx Care.
• Manx Care does not collate data on which employees have signed the Act because it is required of all staff.
• The Office of Human Resources does not hold any data regarding Manx Care contractors signing the Act.
• The Isle of Man relies on the UK Official Secrets Acts of 1911, 1920, and 1931.
• Legal advice from the Attorney General's Chambers in 2018 made compliance with the Official Secrets Act a requirement for all public servants.

Data Disclosed

• 2026-01-30
• 2026-02-24
• 5266917
• 2018
• 1911
• 1920
• 1931
• 1989

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Information not held)

Original Request

Please state how many Manx care a) employees and b) Manx care contractors, have signed the British official secrets act? 2-please indicate how many of those are a) non clinical management staff b) non clinical admin staff and c)clinical staff Many thanks

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Manx Care Noble’s Hospital, Strang Braddan, Isle of Man IM4 4R (01624) 650 000

Our ref: 5266917 20 February 2026

Dear

We write further to your request received 30 January 2026, which states:

"Please state how many Manx care a) employees and b)Manx care contractors, have signed the British official secrets act?

2-please indicate how many of those are a) non clinical management staff b) non clinical admin staff and c) clinical staff

Many thanks"

Response

S11 (3)(a) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Manx Care is unable to provide the information you have requested. This is in line with section 11(3)a of the Act, as a practical refusal reason applies; namely we do not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested.

• It is a mandatory pre-employment check within the onboarding process for all new starters to sign the Official Secrets Act however, following legal advice from the Attorney General's Chambers in 2018 it was made a requirement for all public servants to comply with the Official Secrets Act. As part of the recruitment process, new starters to all posts are required to sign the Official Secrets Act as a condition of their offer.

• We therefore do not collate data on which employees have signed the Official Secrets Act as they are all required to do so.

• The Office of Human Resources does not hold any data in relation to Manx Care contractors.

For your information, the Isle of Man relies on the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 1920 and 1931, which are all Acts of the UK Parliament, even though the UK itself has moved on to a more modern Official Secrets Act 1989.

Please quote the reference number 5266917 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