Jersey Opera House report (FOI)

Request

In a Jersey Evening Post article dated 15 November 2021, in which Deputy Kirsten Morel commented on the ongoing Jersey Opera House funding and maintenance problems, it was stated that "Tom Fleming, the consultant who undertook the recent arts strategy, has been commissioned to conduct a desk exercise, reviewing different models for the theatre's relationship with the government. His report is due in February." Please could I have a copy of the report referred to above.

Response

The report is due for publication on www.gov.je in October 2022. Article 36 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has therefore been applied.

Article applied

Article 36 - Information intended for future publication

(1) Information is qualified exempt information if, at the time when the request for the information is made, the information is being held by a public authority with a view to its being published within 12 weeks of the date of the request.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant –

(a) of the date when the information will be published;

(b) of the manner in which it will be published; and

(c) by whom it will be published.

(3) In this Article, "published" means published –

(a) by a public authority; or

(b) by any other person.

Public Interest Test

Article 36 is a qualified exemption, which means that a public interest test has to be undertaken to examine the circumstances of the case and decide whether, on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

• disclosure of the information would support transparency and promote accountability to the general public. 

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information

• it is intended to publish the report within 12 weeks of the receipt of this request on www.gov.je. In it is reasonable for government to publish reports in an orderly manner, following completion of appropriate internal processes, and publishing in advance, and in such close proximity to expected publication date, would potentially undermine the orderly publication and conduct of government work (when the public benefit of earlier publication under the Law would derive limited benefit).