FOI Requests to Andreas, Ballaugh & Jurby

Summary

The requester asked for documentation regarding why Andreas, Ballaugh, and Jurby do not accept FOI requests via the central portal and how the government monitors their compliance. The Cabinet Office responded by providing correspondence detailing the implementation timeline, training sessions offered to local authorities, and guidance on the phased introduction of the FOI Act.

Key Facts

• Local Authorities were added to Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 effective 1st January 2018.
• Local Authority joint boards and committees were deferred from becoming public authorities under the Act at the same time as Local Authorities.
• The Cabinet Office offered free 'Information held and myth busting training' to Local Authority staff on 3rd April 2017.
• Briefings on FOI were provided at the Local Authority Clerks' Forum in June 2016 and a Municipal Association event in January 2017.
• Final preparation guidance and paper request/complaint forms were distributed to all Local Authorities in December 2017.

Data Disclosed

• 1st January 2018
• 10 months
• 3rd April 2017
• 9:30am
• 11:30am
• 1 and 2 hours
• June 2016
• January 2017
• May 4th 2017
• 12 December 2017
• 22 February 2017
• 17th March 2017
• 01624 685704
• 687168
• 01624 685711
• 01624 687168

Original Request

The 3 local authorities of Andreas, Ballaugh & Jurby do not accept FOI requests through the FOI portal as they do not have email addresses. Please provide copies of the decision to allow this difference in process compared to other departments to occur. How does Central Government manage or monitor the adherence to FOI legislation by these authorities? Please provide copies of all correspondence had with these authorities regarding the introduction of FOI and the reasons provided by the authorities for not accepting FOI requests through the central portal. Thanks

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

1 Hemsley, Kirsty (CSO) From: Sent: 22 February 2017 16:27 Cc: Moore, Hirelle; Hemsley, Kirsty (CSO); Curphey, Emily; Subject: FW: FoI Act Please find attached a letter from the Cabinet Office with an update on Freedom of Information Act  implementation.     Dear Clerks

It is now some 10 months before it is anticipated that each of your Local Authorities will be added to Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015. What this means in practice is that from 1st January 2018 freedom of information requests can be made directly to each of your authorities and will need to be responded to, in accordance with the Act.

The further inclusion of Local Authority joint boards and committees was originally envisaged and, whilst the addition of these would further transparency across the public service, it is proposed that consideration of whether or not to add these bodies is deferred until such time as the impact of the phased introduction of the Act, on Local Authorities, can be assessed following real time experience.

Therefore, for Local Authorities, this means that Local Authority joint boards and committees will not become public authorities for the purposes of Freedom of Information at the same time as Local Authorities. However, all Local Authorities may still hold information created by Local Authority joint boards and committees which may have to be disclosed in response to a freedom of information request. For further information in this regard, please see Part 1 of the Freedom of Information Code of Practice, previously circulated.

Should you have any queries about how Freedom of Information will impact your authority or will operate in practice, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team in the Cabinet Office who would be more than happy to offer guidance and assistance (tel 687168 or email foi@gov.im).

Regards   Kirsty Hemsley Senior External Relations Officer Crown and External Relations Division

Tel: 01624 685704

Mr J J Quayle Ballavarran Farm Jurby Isle of Man IM7 3AN

17th March 2017

Dear Chair and Members

Freedom of Information Training

In response to queries received regarding training and support provided to Local Authority staff in the lead up to the planned Freedom of Information Act extension on 1st January 2018, the Freedom of Information (FOI) team are happy to offer additional training prior to the workshops planned for November. Training for Local Authority staff was originally envisaged later on in the year as we have received advice and learnt from experience that it is better to be trained in the more detailed practical aspects of FOI closer to the ‘go live’ date, for the information to remain current. However, we’d like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to Local Authority members and staff to “Information held and myth busting training” on 3rd April 2017 at Barrool Suite, Legislative buildings, Douglas. There are 2 available sessions, commencing at 9:30am and 11:30am respectively and it is envisaged that the training will last between 1 and 2 hours. There will be no cost to this training.

If you would like to attend this training on 3rd April please get back to me with names and a preferable time so that places can be reserved.

Please also see enclosed a training strategy along with a brief FOI leaflet for your information which you may wish to circulate to members and staff.

By way of general awareness raising, the FOI team provided briefings at the Local Authority Clerks’ Forum in June 2016 and the training event organised by the Municipal Association in January 2017. Additionally, as advised by the Minister for Policy and Reform in his January 2017 letter the FOI team is more than happy to assist with any queries Authorities may have and Kirsty Hemsley and Hirelle Moore will be in attendance at the Clerks forum meeting on May 4th 2017 where they will be happy to address any particular FOI queries.

Please do not hesitate to make contact with us should you have any queries regarding FOI preparation.

Yours faithfully Executive Officer – Freedom of Information Crown and External Relations Division Freedom of Information Team Cabinet Office Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Tel:

+44 1624 685711 Direct line : +44 1624 687168 Email:

Website:
www.gov.im/foi

From: Hemsley, Kirsty (CSO) Cc: Subject: Freedom of Information - Local Authorities Date: 12 December 2017 12:34:41 Attachments: image001.png image002.jpg image003.jpg Request form - PAPER v2.0.docx Complaint form - PAPER v2.0.docx FOI hard copy request guidance.pdf To all Local Authorities Dear Chair, Members and Clerks, With less than one month remaining until the Freedom of Information (“FOI”) Act extends to Local Authorities on 1 January 2018, I am writing to you regarding the final preparations before go live. Guidance Guidance on dealing with FOI requests is available online on the Isle of Man government website at https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of- information/guidance-for-public-authorities/. It is recommended that you use the templates available. They have been drafted to accord with the legislation and the Code of Practice and using them will not only promote consistency but also save you time. There is also a template spreadsheet for monitoring and tracking requests, which will help you calculate due dates etc. There is also guidance available on the Information Commissioner’s website at https://www.inforights.im/document-library/freedom-of-information-notices/. All decision notices issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office contain good practice recommendations, which are very useful reminders of how to best comply with the legislation. Receiving FOI requests It is planned to include an online form for requests for Local Authorities on the Isle of Man Government website. You will receive an email when a request is made for information held by your authority containing the details of the request and the requestor. If this is not the mailbox that you wish to receive FOI requests, please notify me as soon as possible and let me know your preferred mailbox. Paper forms should be made available to the public from 1 January 2018, it is up to you whether you display them or make them available on request. By way of general awareness raising, the FOI team has provided briefings at the Local Authority Clerks’ Forum in June 2016, the training event organised by the Municipal Association in January 2017 and the Information held and myth busting workshop in April 2017. Additionally, the FOI team provided FOI Exemptions workshops on 23 and 24 November 2017 with an expert trainer, free of charge. The Department of Infrastructure will also be rescheduling additional training. The FOI team is more than happy to assist with any queries Authorities may have regarding FOI preparation. Kind regards Kirsty Hemsley Crown and External Relations Division Tel: 01624 685704, www.gov.im/elections

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

Our ref: 946673 4 October 2019

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 3 September 2019 and which states:

"The 3 local authorities of Andreas, Ballaugh & Jurby do not accept FOI requests through the FOI portal as they do not have email addresses. Please provide copies of the decision to allow this difference in process compared to other departments to occur. How does Central Government manage or monitor the adherence to FOI legislation by these authorities? Please provide copies of all correspondence had with these authorities regarding the introduction of FOI and the reasons provided by the authorities for not accepting FOI requests through the central portal. Thanks"

Please find enclosed copies of information held in relation to your request. Please note that emails to all Local Authorities are printed and sent in hard copy to the Local Authorities that you have requested with (Andreas, Ballaugh and Jurby). A search has indicated no replies from the authorities you refer to. Regarding your query about a decision to allow these Local Authorities not to accept Freedom of Information request by email; there is no information held by the Cabinet Office on a decision as that is not a decision that the Cabinet Office is able to take. The Cabinet Office has no responsibility or requirement to monitor how Local Authorities comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2015. As separate legal bodies Local Authorities are responsible for their own compliance with the legislation and are listed as separate public authorities subject to the Act. The Freedom of Information Act 2015 does not place a requirement on authorities to receive requests by any particular channel as long as the request is on “the form required by the Chief Secretary”.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information). The reasons why that exemption applies are that:

1. The Cabinet Office is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and
2. The Cabinet Office is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Cabinet Office can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met. Please quote the reference number 946673 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 online 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; 3. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 4. 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