20 January 2010

Thank you for your three email requests which asked, under the Freedom of Information Act, for correspondence held by the Department of Health relating to the Reciprocal Health Agreement between the UK and the Isle of Man.

You sent three requests:

1) Dated 21 December, our reference: DE468878

“In relation to the decision made to cease the reciprocal healthcare agreement with the Isle of Man, the Department of Health has stated that it believes the agreement to be now out-of-place due to "the wide availability of travel insurance", and that there is "little
robust data to justify the business case". Furthermore, the Department of Health stated that the decision to end the agreement
was consistent with the "UK's legal oblications"

Please provide the background papers behind these statements, in particular:

1) research as to the availability of health insurance for UK residents visiting the Isle of Man
2) research as to the availability of health insurance for Isle of Man residents visiting the UK
3) the data that is available for determining the business case
4) what the terms of the business case were believed to be
5) what advice was obtained in relation to the UK's legal obligations on this matter”

2) Dated 29 December, reference: DE469738:

“Please supply the dates, times and lengths, agendas, job titles of attendees, and minutes of meetings held (in the calendar year 2009) between officials or ministers of the UK Department of Health and any official or political member of the Isle of Man Government.
    
Please also provide any similar records made for telephone calls between the DoH and IOMG on this subject in the same time frame”.

3) Dated 29 December, reference: DE469739

“Please detail the mechanism by which payments under the Reciprocal Health Agreement with the Isle of Man are calculated”.

Section 12(4)(a) of the FOI Act provides that where two or more requests for information are made to a public authority by one person, the estimated cost of replying to the requests is to be taken to be the estimated cost of complying with all of them.

We have estimated that the cost of complying with this body of requests would be substantially in excess of the limit of £600 laid down under the FOI Act, and we will therefore not be proceeding further with these requests.  You might therefore consider submitting a revised request, which focuses on a specific area relating to the Reciprocal Health Agreement between the UK and the Isle of Man, or suggesting narrower timeframes.  However, it is also possible that searches might identify material which proved to be exempt from the duty to disclose under one or other of the provisions of the FOI Act.

I am sorry to be unable to be more helpful at this stage.   If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:

Head of the Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health
Room 317
Richmond House
79 Whitehall,
London
SW1A 2NS

Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xxx.xx

If you are not content with the outcome your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Department. The ICO can be contacted at:
 
Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Lynn Swyny
FOI Case Manager
Department of Health