Ministerial conduct, corruption and whistleblowing policy (FOI)

Request

Please provide the followiing information regarding ministerial conduct, statistics relating to complaints, accusations of corruption, and the Government of Jersey's whistleblowing policy.

A

A comprehensive breakdown of the number of complaints made against ministers in the last five years, categorised by the nature of the complaint (such as misconduct, corruption, and so forth).

B

Detailed statistics on the number of accusations of corruption made against Ministers in the last five years, including the outcome of any investigations into these accusations.

C

A copy of the current Government of Jersey whistleblowing policy, including any guidelines or procedures related to reporting misconduct or corruption within the Government.

D

Information on the number of whistleblowing reports made within the Government of Jersey in the last five years, including the nature of the reports and the outcome of any subsequent investigations.

E

Any training materials or guidelines provided to ministers regarding ethical conduct and corruption prevention.

Response 

A

This information is publicly available in response to a previous Freedom of Information request which can be accessed via the link below. Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Bullying and grievance complaints (FOI)

B

This information is not held by the Government of Jersey, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies, however, please see the response for question one above for details of complaints made against Minsters, which would include complaints relating to corruption. 

C

This information is publicly available on Gov.je and can be accessed via the link below. Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. 

Whistleblowing policy for public servants of the Government of Jersey (gov.je)

D

Due to the small number of reports no further details can be provided, as this information could breach of privacy of individuals. Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. 

E

Please see the document below, as amended from time to time.

Code of Conduct and Pratice for Ministers and Assistant Ministers.pdf (states assembly.gov.je)

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.

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

3)      In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.