Freedom of Information requests data 2015 to 2024 (FOI)

​​​Request

A

What is the total amount of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests received by the FOI department in each of the last ten years? 

B

Of these, in how many cases was the requested information provided and in how many cases was it refused? 

C

In the cases where it was refused, what Article or Articles were used to refuse to provide the information? 

​Response

A

​* to 31 August 2024.

Please see the attached spreadsheet providing information on valid requests received by departments that is held in a reportable format. Please note that minor differences exist between the annual figures provided above and those in the spreadsheet due to anomalies where in 2015 some requests relating to Andium and Ports of Jersey had been logged on the system.

Statistics by department up to 31 August 2024.xlsx​

Quarterly statistics by department are also publicly available on www.gov.je from quarter three 2018 to quarter two 2024. Previous data was not published due to changes in departmental names and functions. Please see the following link:

Freedom of Information data and statistics (gov.je)​

B and C

This information is not held in recorded form. To provide a response to this request would require extraction and manipulation of data to produce new information.

Requests may be refused for many different reasons, for example:

• It is not a valid Freedom of Information request
• The request is asking a question and not for information held
• The applicant may have requested a Subject Access Request via the FOI portal
• The request may be for the Parishes or Andium – both entities have their own FOI portal
• The request relates to an entity not covered by the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Also, any or all parts of the request may be refused, for example:

• The information is not held by the Government of Jersey
• It has been estimated that it will exceed the cost limit provisions for answering a request
• The information is already in the public domain
• There is an intention to publish the information within 12 weeks at the time the request was received
• The information requested is exempt from release.

A Scheduled Public Authority is not required to manipulate and create new data sets. It has been estimated that the cost of extracting the data would exceed the cost limit provisions set out in the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014.

Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

Articles 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.

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.​