The island’s Information Commissioner, Ian McDonald, will step down next month, due to insufficient financial and staffing resources.

The Office of the Information Commissioner is the independent supervisory body for the Data Protection Act 2002 and the Unsolicited Communications Regulations 2005.

A statement from the office reads: ‘While the office has taken on considerably greater responsibilities since 2015, including becoming arbitrator under the Freedom of Information Act and numerous additional tasks and functions under the Applied GDPR, resourcing, both financial and staffing, has not been sufficient to manage the ever increasing workload, nor to enable all tasks to be fulfilled.

‘Despite actively seeking additional funding for an extra member of staff, the existing budget was reduced in the latest budget round.

‘This has had a devastating effect on the office staff and was the direct cause of the commissioner stepping down.’

‘At present, the future of the office is uncertain and we apologise for any delays in the provision of responses or conclusion of complaints as this is due to the large volume of work currently being handled.’

A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said: ‘The Information Commissioner tendered his resignation to the Chief Minister on April 25 and the recruitment process is underway.

‘The Isle of Man Government thanks Mr McDonald for his long service.

‘The Office of the Information Commissioner will continue its operations.’