Bus Stops - The Parade / Market Square Castletown

Summary

The requester asked for details on bus stop injury incidents in Castletown and internal correspondence regarding proposed stop amendments. The Department of Infrastructure disclosed that two injuries occurred in 2017 but withheld internal policy correspondence under a qualified exemption.

Key Facts

• Two incidents resulting in injury to the public occurred at Castletown bus stops in 2017.
• No specific highway schemes were implemented as a direct result of these incidents.
• Internal correspondence regarding proposed amendments to bus stops on The Parade was withheld.
• The withholding was based on the formulation or development of policy exemption (Section 34).
• The Department determined that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the interest in disclosure.

Data Disclosed

• 2 incidents
• 2017
• 1st Jan 2017
• 14 November 2018
• 18 December 2018
• 2019-01-29
• Section 34
• 652965

Exemptions Cited

• Section 34 (formulation or development of policy)

Original Request

Please provide details of all incidents resulting in injury to members of the public in Castletown whilst alighting at a Public Bus Stop since 1st Jan 2017 Please provide details of any schemes, proposed or implemented on the islands public highway as the result of an incident to a member of the public whilst alighting from a public service vehicle. Please provide copies of all internal correspondence from the Highway Services Division and Bus Vannin and between those divisions in relation to proposed amendments to the Bus Stops at the Parade in Castletown since 1st Jan 2017

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: Maggie Farmer Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 652965 18 December 2018

Dear ###

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

"1. Please provide details of all incidents resulting in injury to members of the public in Castletown whilst alighting at a Public Bus Stop since 1st Jan 2017 2. Please provide details of any schemes, proposed or implemented on the islands public highway as the result of an incident to a member of the public whilst alighting from a public service vehicle. 3. Please provide copies of all internal correspondence from the Highway Services Division and Bus Vannin and between those divisions in relation to proposed amendments to the Bus Stops at the Parade in Castletown since 1st Jan 2017"

Our response to your request is as follows: 1. There have been 2 incidents in Castletown in 2017 resulting in injury to a member of the public. 2. No schemes were required as a direct result of the above incidents. However, as standard practice, statistical and logistical data collected by the Department is used to inform decisions around the development of future schemes or policies. 3. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the information is exempt from disclosure under section 34 of the Act (the formulation or development of policy); specifically email correspondence relating to the future policy options concerning the location of bus stops on The Parade in Castletown. It may be that, in the future when a policy decision has been made, statistical information used to provide an informed background to the taking of the decision will no longer be considered exempt information.
As section 34 is a qualified exemption, it is subject to a public interest test. The public interest must be something that is of serious concern and benefit to the public at large.

Factors in favour of disclosure • Disclosing information about the range of future policy options, considered by the Department of Infrastructure in respect of the bus stops would build public confidence in the thoroughness of the process undertaken by the Department in this instance; • Promoting good decision making by public bodies, ensuring standards of integrity are upheld and that all parties views are taken into consideration; and • Disclosing the information prior to a decision being taken enables the public to be more informed about the options available and opens this up for debate. Factors in favour of withholding • No policy decision has taken place so far, although options have been put forward, the policy making process is currently live; • Disclosing the information would be likely to prejudice the deliberation and decision making process. In particular, it is likely that those who may be implicated by the policy options may attempt to influence the policy direction; • The need to preserve a safe space to debate live issues away from external interference and distraction; • The need to maintain the quality of government policy making by facilitating free and frank exchanges between civil servants; • The thorough consideration of all options, however extreme, without inducing the need to defend them; • Public exposure of the information may compromise candid and robust discussions about policy, the exploration of extreme options, the keeping of detailed records and the taking of hard choices, where it might prejudice good working relationships, the neutrality of civil servants and ultimately the quality of government; • Protecting Departmental effectiveness; inappropriate input or influence would delay the completion of the policy and any accompanying projects.

In taking these factors into account the Department of Infrastructure determined that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information.

Please quote the reference number 652965 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