DESC Minister's Trips

Summary

The request sought details of all off-Island trips and associated expenses for the Minister of Education, Sport and Culture from September 2016 to August 2019. The authority disclosed a partial list of trips with specific costs for travel, accommodation, and other expenses, noting that daily subsistence allowances were not claimed.

Key Facts

• The Minister was appointed on 7 October 2016.
• Daily subsistence allowance expenses were not claimed by the Minister.
• The most expensive trip disclosed was to Gibraltar in July 2019, costing £1,737.61.
• Information was provided for trips to destinations including Lancaster, Guernsey, Edinburgh, London, and Gotland.
• The response covered the period from January 2017 to July 2019.

Data Disclosed

• 7 October 2016
• 15 July 2019
• 8 August 2019
• £168.00
• £633.24
• £1818.50
• £1737.61
• 27.01.17
• 06.07.19
• 14.07.2019

Original Request

Please provide the following information from September 2016 - date: Details of all trips off-Island undertaken by the Minister (destination, length of stay); and Expenses incurred by the Minister per trip, including cost of flights, accommodation and expenses.

Data Tables (6)

Full Response Text

Corporate Services Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Hamilton House Peel Road, Douglas IM1 5EZ Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im Our ref: 883365 8 August 2019

Dear ###,

We write further to your request which was received on 15 July 2019 and which states:

"Please provide the following information from September 2016 - date: Details of all trips off-Island undertaken by the Minister (destination, length of stay); and Expenses incurred by the Minister per trip, including cost of flights, accommodation and expenses." Our response to your request is as follows: I have enclosed copies of the information that is held and have also provided related website links which may be of interest to you. Please quote the reference number 883365 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 Coordinator

Destination - Town/City (include country if outside UK) date from date to travel accommodation other Total cost - £ excl VAT Lancaster and Chester University 27.01.17 31.01.17 168.00 161.67 329.67 Guernsey 12.02.17 15.02.17 387.24 246.00 633.24 Edinburgh BIC 09.03.17 10.03.17 162.18 112.50 275.68 Destination - Town/City (include country if outside UK) date from date to travel accommodation other Total cost - £ excl VAT Gotland for Island Games 23.06.17 01.07.17 715.00 1073.50 30.00 1818.50 Destination - Town/City (include country if outside UK) date from date to travel accommodation other Total cost - £ excl VAT London 25.10.17 28.10.17 13.56 129.00 142.56 Chester 02.11.17 03.11.17 107.04 132.00 239.04 Destination - Town/City (include country if outside UK) date from date to travel accommodation other Total cost - £ excl VAT Lancaster 26.01.18 29.01.18 189.92 60.00 249.92 London and Manchester 07.02.18 09.02.18 224.36 271.47 495.83 Inverness 28.03.18 30.03.18 298.30 130.00 25.60 453.60 Destination - Town/City (include country if outside UK) date from date to travel accommodation other Total cost - £ excl VAT Derby University 19.09.18 20.09.18 57.98 70.00 127.98 London 27.09.18 28.09.18 233.63 117.50 351.13 Edinburgh 22.08.18 24.08.18 182.98 702.00 884.98 Jul to Sept 2018 Department of Education Sport and Culture Minister's expenses 2017 - 2019 (year to date) Jan to Mar 2017 Apr to Jun 2017 Oct to Dec 2017 Jan to Mar 2018 Destination - Town/City (include country if outside UK) date from date to travel accommodation other Total cost - £ excl VAT Heysham - Coventry 09.01.19 11.01.19 145.00 200.50 345.50 Gibraltar 06.07.19 14.07.2019 384.31 1353.30 1737.61 Notes The Minister was appointed as Minister for Education Sport and Culture on 7 October 2016 The above expense details relate to travel, accommodation and related visit expenses. Daily susbistence allowance expenses are not shown as these were not claimed by the Minister. Further details about Tynwald Members' expenses allowances can be found on the Tynwald website at : http://www.tynwald.org.im/memoff/remall/Pages/default.aspx Further details about Tynwald Members' parliamentary expense claims can be found on the Tynwald website at : http://www.tynwald.org.im/memoff/remall/Pages/OITC.aspx January to July 2019 (year to date)