Ministerial Support Unit staffing (FOI)

Request

A

Please confirm the dates of employment of the Private Secretary for the Minister for External Relations, [name redacted].

B

Please confirm the grade of the post of Private Secretary.

C

Please confirm the dates upon which [name redacted] is recorded in the visitor log book for Broad Street from June 2022 to date.

D

Please confirm the date that a security pass for Broad Street was issued to [name redacted].

E

Please confirm the date that a confidentiality agreement was signed by [name redacted].

F

Please confirm the date that a contract of employment was issued to [name redacted], [redacted] title and pay grade. Please confirm the end date of this contract.

G

Please specify where, when and for how long the above role was advertised.

H

Please provide the job description for this role, and confirm the working hours for this role. Under which department does this role fall. Please confirm the line manager. 

I

Was Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) clearance required for this role? If so, on what date was a background check carried out in relation to [name redacted]?

J

Please confirm how many applicants were shortlisted and interviewed for this role. Please confirm who shortlisted the candidates and who conducted the interview(s) and on what date(s). When was the successful candidate notified?

K

If the position was not subject to open recruitment, on what date was an exception approved by a Senior HR Manager?

L

Please confirm if this appointment was overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission.

M

Please confirm if this appointment was approved by the States Employment Board – if so, on what date.

N

Please confirm what training has been issued to [name redacted] by the Government.

O

When was a vacancy for the above role identified and on what date was it approved.

P

Please provide a copy of the Government of Jersey’s recruitment policy. 

Q

Please provide the agendas for all Council of Ministers meetings from November 2022 to date

Response

A to O

The Government of Jersey does not comment on individual contractual matters as this would breach the privacy of the individuals concerned. Article 25 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) 2011 Law has therefore been applied to the questions posed by the request.

P 

Details regarding working for the Government of Jersey including vacancies, recruitment policies, code of conduct and public sector values is publicly available on www.gov.je. Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. Please see the following link:

Working for the States (gov.je)

Q

The public record of Council of Ministers meetings is published on www.gov.je. Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. Please see the following link:

Council of Ministers (gov.je)

Details of the items and topics discussed are included in the minutes.   

The remainder of the records to January 2023 will be uploaded once approved and within the next 12 weeks. Article 36 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) 2011 Law has been applied.

Articles applied 

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

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

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

3)      In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.

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 minutes within 12 weeks of the receipt of this request on www.gov.je . In it is reasonable for government to publish minutes 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).