FOI requests in connection with the CEO's contract (FOI)

​Request

Following the decision on 22nd November, 2018 by the Information Commissioner that the blocking of FOI requests relating to the contract of the States of Jersey CEO was ultra vires, and that even questions not directly relating to that contract but perceived by the FOI team to be related ,were also blocked, can the following information be provided:

A
How many FOI requests related to the CEO contract or perceived by the FOI team to have any connection whatsoever to that contract and indirect connections ,were blocked?

B
Given that the blocking of those questions was not compliant with the legal requirement, as stated by the Information Commissioner, will those FOI requests be answered and in what time frame given that they have already been through the process prior to non-compliant rejection

Response

With reference to the decision notice of the Information Commissioner – available in full through the following link:

Decision Noitce 2018-01

Decision Notice 2018-01

The decision of the Information Commissioner related to the application of Article 25 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 to the contract of the Jersey CEO in full. At no point was there an insinuation that this or any other request had been ‘blocked’. The following section of the decision notice should also be noted:

My final comment is to reiterate that the arguments for transparency and privacy were finely balanced in this case. Both the Applicant and SPA made reasonable and legitimate arguments. My decision required a close examination of the all the nuances of the case and reference to the few relevant cases that exist, none of which were determinative. Given all these circumstances, I understand why the SPA decided to err on the side of caution and withhold the record in its entirety. I recognise that it is not possible to rectify or mitigate the loss of privacy when anyone discloses personal data in error. Therefore, it is necessary for SPAs to be certain that they have the appropriate authority before disclosing any personal data.

A
No Freedom of Information requests have been ‘blocked’. Exemptions are applied to requests on a case by case basis and each request is treated individually.

B
Please note A.

Any requester who is not satisfied with the response they receive has a period of twenty working days after the issuance of their response in which to request an Internal Review of the decision.