Number of FOI Requests which have not been publically disclosed.

Summary

The requester asked for statistics on unpublished FOI requests across all Isle of Man government departments for the 2018-2019 financial year, along with guidelines and appeal processes. The Cabinet Office disclosed that it does not hold these statistics for other departments but provided its own unpublished request data for the 2018-2019 period, the relevant publication policy link, and confirmation that departments decide individually on publication.

Key Facts

• The Cabinet Office does not hold FOI statistics for other Government Departments, Boards, or Companies.
• Individual departments are responsible for deciding whether to publish their FOI responses.
• The Cabinet Office provided its own statistics for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.
• A policy document regarding the publication of FOI responses is available online.
• All FOI responses are provided directly to the requester regardless of public publication status.

Data Disclosed

• 49
• 5
• 2
• 3
• 1 April 2018
• 31 March 2019
• 2019-05-01
• 2019-05-28

Original Request

Dear Cabinet Office. I'm trying to work out the number of times that an FOI request is NOT published on the FOI Disclosure website. I am aware of the list of 10 reasons mentioned on your website as to why a request may not be published, plus the catch all "however all requests will be considered on a case by case basis to which other factors may be relevant". I note that on your "Guidance to Public Authorities", there is a tracking spreadsheet which includes the section "Uploaded to website FOI request responses?" which lists options such as Yes and then a variety of No reasons. I am assuming that this form of tracking is also used within Government and that the Cabinet Office, as being the department responsible for introducing FOI, would hold these statistics as presumably, each organisation would be obliged to report statistics back to you. As such I'd like to request: 1) For the last financial year (April 18 to March 19) for EACH Government Department/Board/Company that the FOI act covers, the number of FOI requests made to it, and the number of requests that have or have not been published on the FOI website along with the reasons why it has not been published. For this, I am happy to use the various categories on the tracking spreadsheet such as: Yes No - private interest No - contravene DP principles No - DP SAR No - redaction (no context/meaning) No - publicly available No - repeat request (identical/significantly similar) No - contains abusive/aggressive/intemprate language, personal grudges or unfounded accusations No - outcome of review unknown No - business constraints/priorities No - impractical format Other 2) Any guidelines issued by the Cabinet Office to these organisations on how they should decide whether to make a request public or not and who is responsible for making the final decision. 3) Details of how a member of the public could get hold of a FOI disclosure when it is not been made publicly available or to appeal that it should be made publicly available. Many thanks.

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 808566 28 May 2019

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 1 May 2019 and which states:

"Dear Cabinet Office. I'm trying to work out the number of times that an FOI request is NOT published on the FOI Disclosure website. I am aware of the list of 10 reasons mentioned on your website as to why a request may not be published, plus the catch all "however all requests will be considered on a case by case basis to which other factors may be relevant". I note that on your "Guidance to Public Authorities", there is a tracking spreadsheet which includes the section "Uploaded to website FOI request responses?" which lists options such as Yes and then a variety of No reasons. I am assuming that this form of tracking is also used within Government and that the Cabinet Office, as being the department responsible for introducing FOI, would hold these statistics as presumably, each organisation would be obliged to report statistics back to you. As such I'd like to request: 1) For the last financial year (April 18 to March 19) for EACH Government Department/Board/Company that the FOI act covers, the number of FOI requests made to it, and the number of requests that have or have not been published on the FOI website along with the reasons why it has not been published. For this, I am happy to use the various categories on the tracking spreadsheet such as: Yes No - private interest No - contravene DP principles No - DP SAR No - redaction (no context/meaning) No - publicly available No - repeat request (identical/significantly similar) No - contains abusive/aggressive/intemprate language, personal grudges or

unfounded accusations No - outcome of review unknown No - business constraints/priorities No - impractical format Other While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Cabinet Office does not hold information that you have requested. The Cabinet Office does not hold the statistics you have requested for each Department, Board and Office, therefore, you will need to submit an information request to each relevant area. You can do so electronically via the following link: https://www.gov.im/about-the- government/freedom-of-information/make-a-freedom-of-information-request/. Please find below details of the number of Cabinet Office requests received and those not published, with reasons: Freedom of Information Requests 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2018 Total Requests Received 49 Not Published Not valid request, additional clarification requested from Applicant not provided 5 Withdrawn 2 Other 3 2) Any guidelines issued by the Cabinet Office to these organisations on how they should decide whether to make a request public or not and who is responsible for making the final decision. Departments, Boards and Offices are responsible individually as to whether FOI responses are published. The guidelines provided by the Cabinet Office is the policy which is available here: https://www.gov.im/media/1350902/publication-of-freedom- of-information-request-responses.pdf.

3) Details of how a member of the public could get hold of a FOI disclosure when it is not been made publicly available or to appeal that it should be made publicly available. Many thanks." All FOI responses are provided directly to the requestor. The requestor is then free to do whatever they would wish with that response include publication by whatever means Publication of responses is not a statutory obligation under the Freedom of Information Act 2015, however, in the interests of transparency the Cabinet Office recommends to all public authorities (Departments, Boards, Offices) that they publish responses. Please quote the reference number 808566 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

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator