Installation of air quality sensors (FOI)

Request

In July 2019, the Minister for the Environment confirmed to the States Assembly that real-time air quality sensors would be installed from that month onwards and should be in place at every school in the Island before the start of the new term in September 2019. This was a project between Environmental Health, Digital Jersey and AirSensa and that "would result in approximately 300 real-time air quality sensors being installed across the Island". The air quality data provided by these sensors was meant to be accessible to all on the www.gov.je website.

To date, I am not aware that any such air quality data has been published from this network of monitors.

Please could you:

A

Publish all available air quality data gathered from the AirSensa monitors that have been installed on schools in Jersey

B

Disclose information on the progress of this project, including details of why data is not yet publicly available and any further steps in this project that have yet to be completed, along with the relevant time-frames for such steps.

Response

A

Real-time sensors have been installed in 26 schools. It is anticipated that the installation will be completed at the remaining five schools within the next few months.

The data currently produced is not considered reliable until the data ratification, quality assurance and calibration phase of this project has been completed.

B

This phase was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic which prevented the movement of engineers and equipment, however it is due to start in October 2020.

The Government of Jersey will publish the real-time data on www.gov.je once this phase has been completed.

Internal Review Request 

Part (A) of my request has not been adequately answered. The reason given for not disclosing this data is that it is “not considered reliable until the data ratification, quality assurance and calibration phase of this project has been completed”. To my knowledge, that is not a valid ground for refusing to disclose information under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Can I please ask you to re-consider part (A) of my request and to provide at the earliest opportunity all air quality data gathered from the 26 school sites currently covered by the network of AirSensa monitors. I appreciate that this "un-calibrated" data may need to be subject to a suitable disclaimer when it is disclosed.

Internal Review Response

The Environmental Health Section of Infrastructure, Housing and Environment has confirmed that the ownership of the air sensor data remains with the supplier until the data ratification, quality assurance and calibration phase of this project has been completed and the data is deemed reliable.

Therefore, we are unable to provide the data you have requested until the completion of this phase.