Lunar New Year celebration costs (FOI)

​​​​​​​Request

​A

How much money has the Government of Jersey, through the International Cultural Centre Jersey (ICCJ), spent on hosting and promoting the Chinese Lunar New Year festival?

B

How many people worked on this festival?

C

Were there any foreign nationals working on this festival?  ​If yes which country are they a national of?

D

Has the ICCJ or the Government of Jersey received money from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) (this includes its Embassy and Consulates in the United Kingdom and any of its international cultural organisations) for this festival?  If yes, how much?

E

Has the ICCJ or the Government of Jersey received money directly from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)?  ​If yes, how much?

F

Have any Ministers received anything from the CCP, the PRC, its Embassy or Consulates?  If yes, please explain what it was and state its monetary value.

G

Has the ICCJ or the Government of Jersey engaged with the PRC (including via its Embassy, Consulates or international organisations) in the last five years?  If yes, please explain for what purpose.

H

Have any CCP, PRC, Embassy, Consulate or Chinese Cultural officials come to Jersey in the last 5 years? If yes, please explain for what purpose.

I

Will the ICCJ or the Govern,ment of Jersey be hosting any CCP, PRC, Embassy, Consulate or Chinese Cultural officials in Jersey for the Lunar New Year festival?  If yes, please state if any payment has been received or transferred to this official(s) and please state any hospitality provided to this official(s) and the monetary value.

J

How much does the ICCJ cost the Government of Jersey annually?

Response

A

Due to the change in Government (following the Vote of No Confidence) no funding was provided from the International Culture Centre Jersey towards the Lunar New Year festival. The Lunar New Year festival was organised by the Government of Jersey’s, Creative Island Partnership, who contributed £31,097. 

B

The information, as requested, is not held in recorded form, therefore Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. A number of officers across government departments had input into different aspects of the planning and delivery of the festival alongside volunteers and members of external organisations.

​C

Yes.  The information requested is not held in recorded form therefore Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

D

No funding has been received from those organisations.

E

No funding has been received from those organisations.

F

Deputy Morel and the Jersey delegation received a small number of Chinese New Year scarves as gifts on the recent visit of the China Cultural Office. These were of monetary value of no more than £10 each.

G

Yes. The External Relations Department, as mandated by the Common Policy for External Relations, engage with a range of countries to advance Jersey’s interests. Engagement with the Chinese Embassy, including the China Cultural Office, in London in the last five years has been to further links in education and culture. There have been no visits of Jersey Ministers to China since 2019.

​The reason for the engagement is to promote Jersey as a destination for tourism, to promote the festival in Jersey and to build a working relationship for future promotion.

H

The Government of Jersey is hosting officials to the 2024 Lunar New Year festival from the Cultural Office of the Chinese Embassy in London. The Government of Jersey hosted an official from the China National Tourism Office for the 2023 Lunar New Year celebrations.

I

Please see response to question H.  The Government of Jersey has not made payments of any kind or received payments of any kind from the visiting officials. 

The hospitality offered was a working lunch, transportation to and from a performance and a tour of the Island. 

The visiting officials paid for all of their other costs such as flights and hotels.

The monetary value of this hospitality for three officials totals £235.15.

J

The ICCJ was created as part of the previous Chief Minister’s 100-day plan with £300,000 funding approved in the Government Plan from 2023 -2026.

In 2023, the cost of the ICCJ for staffing costs, events and projects was £161,857.

Due to the change in Government and Ministers in January 2024, a review of the ICCJ is currently underway. 

​Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.​