Privileges and Procedures Committee report from 2022 (FOI)

Produced by the Freedom of Information office
Authored by Government of Jersey on behalf of the States Greffe and published on 14 January 2025.
Prepared internally, no external costs.

Request

Hi, I am seeking some clarity with several points published in the 2022 Annual Report from the Privileges and Procedures Committee - https://statesassembly.je/getmedia/26315c0e-90f4-44f5-8e59-4859ab257820/R-131-2023_1.pdf?ext=.pdf - for example,

- First, on page 22, it states that in Democracy Week, 'lessons and workshops were delivered in schools' – how many lessons and workshops were delivered and how long was each session? Second, how many lessons/workshops were delivered in schools outside Democracy Week?

- Second, on page 24, the report states that ‘conversations took place with Heads of PSHE and Assistant Headteachers in eight of the 11+ providers in the Island’ – are the findings accessible (in report format) and in the public domain? 

- Third, also on page 24, the report states that ‘A variety of resources were developed to help students understand the States Assembly. Lesson plans and resources have been created and used in a range of secondary school year groups…These have been used by both States Greffe staff when going into schools, as well as teachers delivering to their own students’ – how many times did States Greffe staff member go into schools to deliver sessions/workshops? How were lesson plans and resources disseminated to teachers? For instance, was there an official staff-teacher induction/introduction to lesson plans/resources?

- Fourth, is there more detail on the ‘post-election insight work’ highlighted on page 28? For example, how many focus groups were conducted and when were the focus group conducted? How many surveys were carried out? Are the key findings from the 'post-election insight work' published and in the public domain? How were the findings/insight used to impact policy?

- Finally, when will the 2023 Annual Report be published?

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards

Response

1. During Democracy Week 2022, nine lessons/workshops were delivered in schools, each lasting between 30-60 minutes.  The answer to the second part of this question is included in Part 3 below.

2. The information is exempt under Article 25 (Personal Information) and Article 28 (States Assembly privilege) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.  

3. In 2022, outside of Democracy Week, 17 lessons/workshops/pop-up information stands were delivered in schools by States Greffe staff, plus 48 lessons/workshops delivered in the States Chamber. Lesson plans and resources are disseminated to teachers via email and on the teachers’ intranet. The annual induction took place in September 2022 to introduce teachers to teaching resources and scheme of work. 

4. The information is exempt under Article 23 (Information accessible to applicant by other means) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

The report on the post-election insight work is available online.  

The recommendations were explored in more depth in the 2024 Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, the report on which is available online.

5. The 2023 Annual Report​ was published on the States Assembly website on 28 October 2024.

Articles Applied

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 2018.

(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 2018; and

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

Article 28 -States Assembly privileges

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if exemption from the obligation to disclose it under this Law is required to avoid an infringement of the privileges of the States Assembly.

(2) Except as provided by paragraph (3), a certificate signed by the Greffier of the States certifying that exemption is required to avoid an infringement of the privileges of the States Assembly is conclusive evidence of that fact.

(3) A person aggrieved by the decision of the Greffier of the States to issue a certificate under paragraph (2) may appeal to the Royal Court on the grounds that the Greffier did not have reasonable grounds for issuing the certificate.

(4) The decision of the Royal Court on the appeal shall be final.

This response has been issued on behalf of the States Greffe. The States Greffe is responsible for the information held by (and on behalf of) both itself and the States Assembly.  Neither the States Assembly nor the States Greffe form part of the Government of Jersey and the Government was not involved either in the examination and retrieval of any information required for this response, nor in the drafting of the response itself.​