Payments made

Summary

The requester asked for total payments to farmers and the highest payments to the top three farmers over the last 12 months. The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture refused to answer, citing that the request was substantially similar to one made in May 2019 and no reasonable interval had elapsed.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 2019-08-05 and refused on 2019-08-06.
• The authority determined the request was a repeated one under section 11(3)(e) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• A previous request on 2019-05-12 regarding the countryside scheme had already provided monetary amounts.
• Names of farmers in the previous request were withheld under section 25 as personal information.
• The department is not obliged to supply substantially similar information again if a reasonable interval has not passed.

Data Disclosed

• 2019-08-05
• 2019-08-06
• 2019-05-12
• 2019-05-21
• 2018
• 914723
• section 11(3)(e)
• section 25

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(e) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Repeated requests)
• Section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Personal information)

Original Request

How much in total either directly or indirectly has been paid to farmers over the last 12 month What has been the highest payment to the top three farmers

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator Corporate Services Directorate Thie Slieau Whallian, Foxdale Road, St John’s, Isle of Man, IM4 3AS Tel no (01624) 685854 Fax no (01624 685851 Email: defa@gov.im www.gov.im

Our ref: 914723 6th August 2019

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on the 5th August 2019 and which states:

"How much in total either directly or indirectly has been paid to farmers over the last 12 month What has been the highest payment to the top three farmers"

This request is being handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act).

On the 12th May 2019 you submitted an FoI request asking for “The names and amount of the money farmers receive as it relates to the country side scheme.” Although the names were withheld, as they are personal information and consequently exempt from release under section 25 of the Act, the monetary amounts for the 2018 scheme year (before adjustments and charges) were supplied to you on the 21st May. This response is publically available through the Disclosure Log here https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/freedom-of- information-responses/ As the Department has provided you with information that is substantially similar to information previously requested it is not obliged, under section 11(3)(e) of the Act, to supply the information to you again. As a reasonable interval has not elapsed since the previous request the Department is refusing to answer this request.

Please quote the reference number 914723 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