Policy and guidelines towards use of departmental resources

Summary

A requester asked the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture for policies on political party use of departmental resources, along with lists of web domains and social media accounts. The request lapsed without any information being provided because the requester failed to respond to clarification emails from the authority.

Key Facts

• The request was made on 15 August 2019 regarding the use of taxpayer-funded resources by political parties.
• The authority sent a follow-up email on 28 August 2019 seeking clarification or assistance.
• A final notice was sent on 11 September 2019 stating the request would close if no response was received by 25 September.
• The request officially lapsed on 3 October 2019 with no information disclosed.
• The requester was an Isle of Man resident seeking electronic copies of documents.

Data Disclosed

• 2019-08-15
• 2019-08-12
• 2019-08-28
• 2019-09-11
• 2019-09-25
• 2019-10-03
• 20 working days
• 11 October 2011
• 925554

Original Request

Dear Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, I am writing to make a freedom of information request for all the information to which I am entitled under the relevant Freedom of Information provisions. I am an Isle of Man resident. Please send me: 1) A copy of all documents relating to the use of taxpayer-funded resources owned and/or operated by Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) by political parties in effect. a) By "documents", I mean all documents which inludes, but is not limited to, policies, procedures, memos, emails and guidelines. b) By "taxpayer-funded resources owned and/or operated by Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA)", I mean all taxpayer-owned property which is controlled and/or operated by DEFA, including both physical property, and also intellectual property. For the avoidance of all doubt, I mean this to also include DEFA-controlled or operated digital services such as social media channels and websites. c) By "in effect", I mean documents that, as of 12 August 2019. 2) A list of all web domains which are owned and/or operated by the DEFA. 3) A list of all social media accounts which are owned and/or operated by the DEFA. I believe that this is likely to be included with the Freedom of Information definition of 'all information held by authorities listed in Schedule 1 of the Act and which was created on or after 11 October 2011.' I would like the above information to be provided to me as electronic copies by email to me. If the files are too large to transfer by email, I am happy to attend your offices with a USB stick. If you prefer alternative arrangements, please contact me to discuss. If this request is too wide or unclear, I would be grateful if you could contact me as I understand that Manx law requires you to advise and assist requesters. If any of this information is already is already publicly available, please advise and assist me to locate the information I am seeking, with page references and URLs if necessary. If the release of any of this information is prohibited on the grounds of breach of confidence, I ask that you supply me with copies of the confidentiality agreement and remind you that information should generally not be treated as confidential if such an agreement has not been signed. I understand that you are required to respond to my request within the 20 working days after you receive this letter. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

1 From: Sent: 11 September 2019 09:52 To: ' Cc: Subject: FW: FoI request re Use of DEFA resources (ref: 925554) Dear , I note that we have not received any response to the email below. If we do not hear from you by the 25th September we will consider closing this request. Please note no further work has been, or can be, done on this request since the email below was sent. Best wishes

From: Department of Environment Food and Agriculture ]
Sent: 28 August 2019 15:33 To:

Cc:

Subject: FoI request re Use of DEFA resources (ref: 925554)

Information request Our reference: 925554 Dear

Freedom of Information Act 2015 We write further to your request which was received on 15 August 2019 and which states: " Dear Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture,

I am writing to make a freedom of information request for all the information to which I am entitled under the relevant Freedom of Information provisions. I am an Isle of Man resident.

Please send me:

1) A copy of all documents relating to the use of taxpayer-funded resources owned and/or operated by Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) by political parties in effect.

a) By "documents", I mean all documents which inludes, but is not limited to, policies, procedures, memos, emails and guidelines.

b) By "taxpayer-funded resources owned and/or operated by Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA)", I mean all taxpayer-owned property which is controlled and/or operated by DEFA, including both physical property, and also intellectual property. For the avoidance of all doubt, I mean this to also include DEFA-controlled or operated digital services such as social media channels and websites.

c) By "in effect", I mean documents that, as of 12 August 2019.

2) A list of all web domains which are owned and/or operated by the DEFA.

3) A list of all social media accounts which are owned and/or operated by the DEFA.

I believe that this is likely to be included with the Freedom of Information definition of 'all information held by authorities listed in Schedule 1 of the Act and which was created on or after 11 October 2011.'

I would like the above information to be provided to me as electronic copies by email to me. If the files are 2 too large to transfer by email, I am happy to attend your offices with a USB stick. If you prefer alternative arrangements, please contact me to discuss.

If this request is too wide or unclear, I would be grateful if you could contact me as I understand that Manx law requires you to advise and assist requesters.

If any of this information is already is already publicly available, please advise and assist me to locate the information I am seeking, with page references and URLs if necessary.

If the release of any of this information is prohibited on the grounds of breach of confidence, I ask that you supply me with copies of the confidentiality agreement and remind you that information should generally not be treated as confidential if such an agreement has not been signed.

I understand that you are required to respond to my request within the 20 working days after you receive this letter. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,
" Clarification request In order to identify and locate the information that you have asked for we need some further information from you. In particular, this request seems to be very expansive and would need substantial compilation and/or collation of information; that is something the Department is not required to do under section 8(3) of the FoI Act. To give you some idea of the extent of the task the Department manages around 28,000 acres of land, 18 glens and around 60 "properties", including the Curraghs Wildlfe Park and Knockaloe Farm. When we consider that your request asks for "all documents" and then includes intellectual property and social media accounts the extent of the information required to answer your request in full becomes clear. It probably includes almost all of the information held by the Forestry team (which has 10 administration staff) plus more held in other areas. We would, however, like to help you narrow and refine your request to a degree that we are able to supply you with some information. I would also point out the the Freedom of Information Act relates to information as opposed to documents. While releasing a document can sometimes be the easiest way to supply information we are only required to release the information which is contained within documents. What is it, precisely, that you require? The questions below may help you refine your request but I'm sure you will also have your own criteria. 1. Is there a particular property or collection of properties or area that interests you? 2. Would you like a certain type of information (e.g. usage or financial information, historical information, events held etc.) in relation to any property collection of properties or area? 3. Is there any situation currently occurring in relation to any DEFA property that has sparked your interest? If so, we may be able to focus on that. I also suggest that your clarification focuses on physical property or intellectual property or social media channels. We probably would not answer a request that asks about all three areas in a single request as it would be too wide ranging. The online guidance states - "Aim for one question per request. Asking for lots of different information within one request can make it difficult to understand what you are really requesting." We will not be able to process your request until this information is received and you have 28 days from the date of this notice in which to respond. Should you respond after this time Department of Environment Food and Agriculture can refuse to provide you with the information requested. Should you have any queries regarding this letter or your request, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am happy to talk about what you require if you would like to call me on 685854. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

Business Change Manager & Data Protection Officer Shared Services

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