Antiques and works of art owned by the States of Jersey (FOI)

​Request

The recently published 2014 States Financial Report and Accounts revealed that the States own £706,000 worth of “antiques and works of art”. Please provide a breakdown of what these "antiques and works of art" are, how much they are worth individually and where they are?

Response

The amount in the 2014 accounts for antiques and works of art relates to:

• six paintings
  
• five pianos
  
• one organ
  
• 20 honours boards
  
• one plaque
  
• two clocks
  
• one model
  
• one sculpture
  

As an example, the States owns a portrait of Prince Albert. They are located in various locations, eg schools and other States buildings.

The information you request, to provide detail of each individual cost and where they are located, is being refused under Article 42 (a) Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011. See the detail below.

Exemption

42 Law enforcement

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

(a) the prevention, detection or investigation of crime, whether in Jersey or elsewhere;

(b) the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, whether in respect of offences committed in Jersey or elsewhere;

(c) the administration of justice, whether in Jersey or elsewhere;

(d) the assessment or collection of a tax or duty of an imposition of a similar nature;

(e) the operation of immigration controls, whether in Jersey or elsewhere;

(f) the maintenance of security and good order in prisons or in other institutions where persons are lawfully detained;

(g) the proper supervision or regulation of financial services; or

(h) the exercise, by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, of any function imposed on it by any enactment.

Article 42 is a Qualified Exemption and therefore is subject to a Public Interest Test.

Justification for exemption:

The information requested to be provided is the location and value of items of significant value and historic interest to Jersey. Release of this information is considered to prejudice the prevention of crime, as it would make it easier to identify where the properties are and target them for theft and vandalism.

The disclosure of this information would have the effect of advertising those items and could lead to associated crime and the economic cost which that implies. It is likely to heighten the security risk of the items involved and potentially the persons who work in those areas. It would, in turn, involve security reviews being carried out on all the locations where the valuable items are stored and could then necessitate the up-grade of any security systems already in place.

It would not be appropriate to disclose this information and would go against any sound advice which would be given in relation to crime reduction and prevention.

The Treasury and Resources Department accepts that there is a public interest in order to promote accountability and transparency in relation to the activities of public authorities. The Department considers, however, that this public interest is outweighed by the considerations outlined above.

Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011