Permits under Regulations of Undertakings Law issued for employees of a specific company (FOI)

​Request

Please can you advise how many permits under the Regulation of Undertakings Law have been granted this year, listed specifically as temporary (if so for how long) / permanent approvals, for employees of Camerons or Spie (their French parent company) in construction.

Response

The Regulation of Undertakings Law was superseded by the Control Of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law 2012.

The Social Security Department can confirm that it holds this information. However this information is exempt from disclosure under the following exemptions of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Exemptions

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).

34    The economy

Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice:

(a)     the economic interests of Jersey; or

(b)     the financial interests of the States of Jersey.

Justification for exemptions:

Article 33 – Commercial Interests

• Disclosing staffing permissions relating to an individual business or businesses may provide a competitive advantage or disadvantage to a business
• Existing businesses may not wish to recruit Registered or Licensed staff should such information be publicly available, as it may feel its reputation is damaged. This would impact on that businesses growth prospects/profitability
• Businesses may be discouraged from locating to Jersey if it’s Licensed and Registered staffing permissions may be publicly available

Article 34 – The Economy

• The cumulative effect of the individual commercial interests may have a negative effect on the Jersey Economy and financial interest of the States of Jersey should businesses be discouraged from locating, investing, expanding or locating to.
• The States Strategic Plan very clearly emphasises the importance of economic growth as our society ages and costs such as health care costs rise, with a key element of that plan focused on business and job creation in a wide range of sectors.