Full Tender document (FOI)

​Request

It would be appreciated if you could make available the full tender document as raised by the Government for ferry services to and from the Island of Jersey. This document is therefore not the one for ferry services to Guernsey and Jersey. It is expected that the document will include details of the number of sailings to the UK and to France, the passenger capacity of the vessels and the type of vessel. Also details of the freight capacity of the vessels as sought by the Government are requested. No details of any relevance to the commercial or to the financial aspects are sought by the applicant, and if any of such detail is contained in the Tender document it may be obscured.

Response

The requested information is exempt under Articles 33 and 34 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011

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 is a prejudice-based exemption. That means that to engage this exemption there must be a likelihood that disclosure would cause prejudice to the interest that the exemption protects. In addition, this is a qualified exemption, and consideration must be given to the public interest in maintaining the exemption.

The Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) considers that providing information could prejudice the commercial interests of the Government of Jersey and / or third parties. There may be public interest in the commercial information, however it was considered that this is outweighed by the potential for commercial and or financial damage.

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 Government of Jersey could be prejudiced by the release of 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.