Sittings

Summary

A request was made for the annual number of sittings for Tynwald and the House of Keys, but the authority refused to provide the information directly under Section 20 of the Act as it is already reasonably accessible on the Tynwald website.

Key Facts

• The information requested is considered reasonably accessible via the Tynwald website under Section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• There are usually 11 sittings of Tynwald per year, including Tynwald Day.
• There are approximately 21 sittings of the House of Keys per year.
• In the 2018/19 parliamentary year, 20 sittings of the House of Keys were held in Douglas.
• Sitting dates are determined by Standing Orders published on the Tynwald website.

Data Disclosed

• 11 sittings
• 21 sittings
• 20 sittings
• 2018/19
• 22 July 2019
• 07th August 2019
• 894661

Exemptions Cited

• Section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Information reasonably accessible)

Original Request

How many sittings of Tynwald and the House of Keys is there in a year.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-Ordinator Office of the Clerk of Tynwald Legislative Buildings Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PW Telephone: 01624 685500

Our ref: 894661 07th August 2019

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 22 July 2019 and which states:

"How many sittings of Tynwald and the House of Keys is there in a year." Under section 20 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you, whether free of charge or on payment of a fee. The information that you have requested is available from the Tynwald website. The following will help you identify where to find the information and how it is derived:
Votes and Proceedings The Votes and Proceedings created for every sitting is published online. You can count how many sittings there were in each chamber using the information on this site:
http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/vp/Pages/ByYear19972020.aspx There are usually 11 sittings of Tynwald a year, including Tynwald Day. There are approximately 21 sittings of the House of Keys a year. • In the parliamentary 2018/19 year, there were 21 scheduled sittings of the House of Keys there and there were 20 sittings held in Douglas. • In the parliamentary 2018/19 year, there were 11 sittings of Tynwald including Tynwald Day. Standing Orders Standing Orders determines sitting dates. Standing Orders are published on the Tynwald website - http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/sto/ • The current version of Standing Orders for Tynwald are available here - http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/sto/Documents/20180718-PP2018-0125TSO.pdf • The current version of Standing Orders for House of Keys are available here - http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/sto/Documents/20181121_PP2018-0162_KSO.pdf Published Sitting Dates The Tynwald website details future sitting dates for the current parliamentary year and the next two parliamentary years. Future sitting dates are provided based on the current version of Standing Orders in which the determination of sitting dates are laid. Dates are therefore for guidance only. • Sitting dates for the current parliamentary year - http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/SitDate/
• Next parliamentary year - http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/SitDate/Pages/Current1.aspx
• Following parliamentary year - http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/SitDate/Pages/Current2.aspx

Please quote the reference number 894661 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 ###