Breakdown of Opera House restoration budget (FOI)

Request 

Where can a breakdown of way the sum of n £11,000,000 for the restoration of the Opera House was arrived at?

Response

£11,731m is proposed in the 2023-2026 Government Plan which can be found using the following link:

Proposed Government Plan 2023 to 2026 (gov.je) 

The full allocation of the funding to refurbish the Jersey Opera House is commercially sensitive and we do not want to prejudice the procurement process. Funding has been determined for the design team, including costs associated with experts in the feasibility stages of the project, planning and by-law applications, developing the schedule of works and finally tendering and appointing a contractor in the design and build stage. Construction inflation and contingency has also been factored. Articles 33 and 34 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 have been applied.

Articles Applied

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public Interest Test

Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information Law allows an authority to refuse a request for information where its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information). 

Whilst it is accepted that the public may have an interest in the content of Government of Jersey contracts, it is considered that releasing this information could affect the commercial interests of the supplier and the Government of Jersey.

Article 34 - The economy

Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice –

(a) the economic interests of Jersey; or

(b) the financial interests of the States of Jersey.

Public Interest Test

Article 34 is a qualified exemption which requires there to be a likelihood of prejudice against the economic interests of Jersey or the financial interests of the States of Jersey. Whilst this could include reputational concerns, the larger concern is whether the economic interests of the States of Jersey could be prejudiced by the release of information – in this instance confidential information, that could undermine Jersey's reputation.

The following extract from the guidance of the UK Information Commissioner should also be noted:

The exemption concerns the effect on the economy rather than the government's ability to manage the economy. However, since it is an aim of governments to improve economic prosperity, weakening the government's control over the economy may also damage the economy itself.

Public interest would not be served by disclosing information which may have a detrimental impact on the economy.