Information regarding Motorsport Organisation

Summary

A request was made to the Department for Enterprise regarding motorsport safety, Clerk of the Course qualifications, and investigations into recent incidents. The authority disclosed the number of qualified clerks and confirmed contact with safety directors, but stated it held no information on contingency plans or specific investigation reports as these are managed by the event organizers.

Key Facts

• There are 2 individuals qualified to act as Clerk of the Course for the TT & MGP.
• The Department does not hold information on contingency plans for the Clerk of the Course as the Manx Motorcycle Club organizes the events.
• The Director of Motorsport emailed information regarding the Course Car incident to the Director of the Safety and Health Directorate.
• The Department does not hold investigation reports for the Course Car incident or the Southern 100 fatality as it was not the investigator.
• An independent investigation into the Course Car incident was expected to be completed by late September 2018.

Data Disclosed

• 2 individuals
• 23 July 2018
• 17 August 2018
• late September
• 545933

Original Request

1. How many people are qualified to act as Clerk of the Course for the TT & MGP? 2. Are there any contingency plans in place should the current Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the Course be unable to fulfil their duties at this year's FOM? 3. Did you or anyone within your Department contact the H&SE in connection with the Course Car incident? If not, why not? 4. Subject to any criminal proceedings, will the Department be publishing in full the contents of all the investigations? 5. What investigations are taking place in connection with the fatality at this year's Southern 100? Will the Department publishing in full any report?

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) 685375 Website: www.gov.im/dfe
Email: steven.tallach@gov.im

Our ref: 545933 17 August 2018

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 23 July 2018 and which states:

"1. How many people are qualified to act as Clerk of the Course for the TT & MGP? 2. Are there any contingency plans in place should the current Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the Course be unable to fulfil their duties at this year's FOM? 3. Did you or anyone within your Department contact the H&SE in connection with the Course Car incident? If not, why not? 4. Subject to any criminal proceedings, will the Department be publishing in full the contents of all the investigations? 5. What investigations are taking place in connection with the fatality at this year's Southern 100? Will the Department publishing in full any report?"

Our response to your request is as follows:

1. The Department holds information that there are 2 individuals qualified to be Clerk of the Course. 2. The Festival of Motorcycling (FOM) consists of two events, the Classic TT and the MGP. Although the Department promotes the Classic TT, the organisation for both events plus promotion of the MGP is undertaken by the Manx Motorcycle Club (MMCC). The Department does not therefore hold any information in relation to contingency plans developed to cover the eventuality referred to in part 2 of your request. 3. The Department can confirm that its Director of Motorsport emailed information on the incident directly to the Director of the Safety and Health Directorate. 4. The Department holds a press release, a letter and email correspondence from the Race Organisers advising that they have commissioned an independent investigation into the incident. The Department also holds emails indicating that the Page 2 of 2 Organiser’s insurers are also carrying out an investigation. As the Department is not the investigator of the incident, it does not currently hold any reports of the investigations, other than an email noting a completion date of late September for the independent investigation is likely. The Department does not hold information to confirm whether or not it will publish any reports. 5. The Department holds no information to confirm that investigations are being carried out into the incident. Like the Incident referred to in questions 3 and 4 above, the Department was not the investigator and therefore it does not currently hold any reports or information about the investigations which could be published. Please quote the reference number 545933 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 Steven Tallach