Les Quennevais Sports Centre food outlet (FOI)Les Quennevais Sports Centre food outlet (FOI)
Produced by the Freedom of Information officeAuthored by Government of Jersey and published on
06 March 2023.Prepared internally, no external costs.
Request
It is my understanding that a new Food outlet is currently being built within the entrance of the States of Jersey owned Les Quennevais Sports Centre under the name of 'Grab n' Go'.
A
What rental has been agreed for this new Food outlet and under what lease duration?
B
Why wasn't the position of a catering business within the Les Quennevais Sports Centre put out to tender?
C
Why isn't there a Planning Application visible online with regard to this Food outlet's construction?
D
Who is the owner of this new Food outlet?
Response
A
The food outlet lease is intended to be for 9 years as detailed in the following standing order published on States Assembly.
Land Transactions under Standing Order 168(3).pdf (gov.je)
The lease agreement for the new outlet has not yet been signed, however, details of the rent would be exempt from release under Article 33(b) (commercial interests) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.
Article 33 is a qualified exemption; therefore, a public interest test would need to be applied and an example is shown at the end of this response.
B
Expressions of Interest were sought publicly and promoted in 2021 via Queree Property Consultants.
C
A planning application was not required, however, building application, B/2021/1030, was submitted and approved.
The building application is accessible on www.gov.je through the on-line planning register. The register can be accessed using the following link:
Building application search (gov.je)
D
The food outlet is due to be run by La Piscine Limited.
Article 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 qualified exemption, and a public interest test should be carried out by the Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) to determine whether the information should be released.
It is in the public interest to be made aware of any rental fees that will be received by the Government of Jersey in relation to the new food outlet.
However, the release of the rental details could potentially disadvantage the tenant and the Government of Jersey’s ability to retain commercial advantage in any future rental negotiations.
Therefore, it is considered that the likely prejudice to the tenant and to the Government, should this information be released, outweighs the argument that the release is in the public interest.