ArtHouse Jersey grant funding for artists (FOI)

Request

The Government grant to ArtHouse Jersey (AHJ) has risen from £198k in 2018 to £915k in 2022 (an increase of 362%) with reportedly £1.13 million requested for 2023, a further large increase. 

Similarly, staff numbers at AHJ have increased from 3 in 2017 to 12 currently listed on the AHJ website.

However, the total amount in grants awarded by AHJ to local artists does not appear to have risen in proportion to the increase in funding from Government. In 2019 grants from AHJ to individual local artists totalled £29,534 and in 2021 (the most recent publicly available accounts) £29,500. Given the recent large increase in Arts and Culture funding awarded to AHJ, this is surprising.

I note that AHJ also directly commissions artists, both local and international, and provides free residencies to international artists, but I am not aware that they report on total amounts awarded and how these are split between local and international artists. It could be argued that local artists are more dependent on AHJ for financial support as international artists have additional local sources of grants (such as from the Arts Council for artists living in the UK.) Grants and commissions to local artists also directly benefit the local creative economy, while awards to international artists have a more unquantifiable impact on the local economy, if any. 

My questions are:

A

In awarding its annual grant to AHJ, does the Government specify the proportion of support or financial amount of support it expects AHJ to extend to local artists as opposed to out-of-island artists, measure the impact of AHJ on the local creative economy or enter into dialogue with AHJ on this specific issue of support to on-island artists and could I have the documentary evidence for this? This could be in the form, for example, of minutes of meetings, the partnership and funding agreement with AHJ or KPIs.

B

Could I have the most recent full list of KPIs which the Government uses to assess and measure the impact and success of its grant to AHJ?

Response

A

The Department for the Economy does not specify the proportion of support or the financial amount of support it expects AHJ to extend to local artists as opposed to out-of-Island artists. 

The Department for the Economy is however engaged in an ongoing dialogue with ArtHouse Jersey in relation to its performance and impact and the way it uses its annual grant funding to achieve the greatest possible impact and value for the public of Jersey and the arts sector at large.  

ArtHouse Jersey uses a detailed system of impact measurement through its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which are linked to the objectives of the Arts Strategy and the Ministerial Common Strategic Priorities.  

B

The KPIs that AHJ uses to report to Government are considered exempt from publication under Articles 26 (Information supplied in confidence) and Article 33 (Commercial Interests) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.  

However, ArtHouse Jersey does publish its KPIs from previous years and report on performance against them in its annual reports which can be found on its website. Please see the following link: 

ArtHouse Jersey Annual Report (arthousejersey.je)

Articles applied

Article 26 - Information supplied in confidence

Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it was obtained by the scheduled public authority from another person (including another public authority); and

(b) the disclosure of the information to the public by the scheduled public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

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) is a prejudice-based exemption. That means that in order 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.