Absence of the Chief Minister on 10 July (FOI)

​Request

What was the official business the Chief Minister carried on out on Tuesday 10 July which caused him to be unable to attend that day's sitting of the States Assembly?

Response

The Chief Minister was in London on 9 July 2018 to attend the Jersey Reception. He had one additional meeting the following morning, returning to Jersey on the afternoon of 10 July.

Further information is exempt under Article 41(2) International Relations and Article 33(b) Commercial interests.

Exemptions

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).

Article 41 - International relations

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

(a) any Jersey interests abroad; or

(b) the promotion or protection by Jersey of any such interest.

Justification for exemptions

It is recognised that there is a public interest in providing transparency about Ministers engagements however, having considered the public interest, the Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) concluded that the public interest in disclosing this information is outweighed by the public interest considerations in withholding the information in support of the Island’s interests abroad and the promotion of Jersey’s interests.