Review of the Freedom of Information Jersey 2011 - Interim Report

Ministerial Foreword

Freedom of Information is a cornerstone of democratic government. It enables scrutiny, fosters trust, and reminds all of us in public service that we are answerable to the people we serve. Since Jersey's Freedom of Information Law came into effect in 2015, it has helped shed light on public decision-making, exposed inefficiencies, and, importantly, made government more open and accountable.

But like all good laws, it must evolve with the world around it.

This interim report marks the first formal milestone in the ongoing review of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011. This work was commissioned by the Council of Ministers to take stock of how the Law is functioning, where it could work better, and how we can future- proof it to serve both the public and the public sector more effectively in the years ahead.

Our focus so far has been on evidence. Through careful analysis of request volumes, operational pressures, user trends, and comparative research across other jurisdictions, this review has already identified areas where we can act. It's clear, for instance, that a small number of repeat requestors generate a very significant proportion of requests and administrative workload. We've also seen that many of these requests could be avoided altogether through better publication of key data, available to all, without the need to submit a formal FOI request.

At the same time, the intent of the States Assembly to extend the Law to other arms-length bodies, as outlined in P.149/2014, has not yet been realised. Publicly owned companies and other significant recipients of taxpayer investment remain outside the scope of the Law. This raises legitimate questions about fairness, consistency, and transparency.

This Interim Report outlines the work done so far, sets out the direction of travel for the second half of 2025, and invites the Assembly and Islanders to engage with the next stage of this important programme.

My thanks go to the officers who have contributed to this review to date, and to the Central FOI Unit for their operational insight and dedication to supporting access to information across government.

There is more work to do, but I believe this review offers a constructive and balanced way forward, one that upholds the public's right to know, reduces unnecessary burden on public resources, and helps build a more transparent, modern government.

Deputy Malcolm Ferey Assistant Chief Minister September 2025

Background

In March 2025, the Council of Ministers initiated a review of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 (the Law').

The Law was enacted to promote transparency and accountability by granting the public a legal right to access information held by Scheduled Public Authorities (SPAs') in Jersey. Its purpose is to ensure that decisions taken by government bodies can be scrutinised and understood, thereby enhancing public trust in the democratic process.

The Law came into force in 2015 following a phased implementation that initially applied to core government departments and Ministers, later extending to the States Assembly, the Parish authorities, and certain government-owned or arms-length entities such as Andium Homes and the Children's Commissioner.

Since its introduction, the Law has undergone gradual development, with the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner (JOIC) assuming responsibility for independent oversight and appeals.

While the Law has been recognised for improving openness, it has also faced criticism for the limited scope of entities covered and the occasional withholding of politically sensitive information. There have been ongoing discussions about expanding coverage to include more state-owned entities and improving the speed and transparency of responses.

In terms of application volumes and trends, the number of annual FOI requests has grown since the Law was introduced from 691, in 2015, and now exceeds 1,000 per year.

By contrast, when the States Assembly agreed the introduction of the Law in 2005, it was estimated that around 60 requests would be received per year; based on the demand created by recently enacted UK FOI legislation, adjusted for the size of the Island's population.

In 2024, 37.5% of all FOI requests were from individuals who are repeat requestors i.e. those who make more than one request per year. While the majority of these made between 2 and 5 requests across the year, a small number of individuals and media representatives (15) made between 6 and 59 FOI requests each. The requests made by these 15 individuals represent over a quarter (26.8%) of the total FOI requests received in 2024.

The purpose of the review is to examine the Law with a view to supporting transparency and promoting a strong "right to know", while also managing the volume and resource implications and supporting the effective conduct of public business.

The review includes the following areas:

1. The extent to which additional information can be provided in the public domain.
2. Exemptions, cost considerations, provisions for repeat and vexatious requests.
3. Extending the Law to include other public bodies.
4. The structuring of the Law, including treating each Scheduled Public Authority as a separate body.
5. Any other legislative improvements to support transparency and the objectives of the review.
6. Any other operational improvements, including applications for AI or more automated mechanisms for compiling, assimilating and releasing information to support transparency and the objectives of the review.

The review of the Law is being undertaken by officers within the Central Information Governance Office and the Cabinet Office, reporting to the Chief Minister and Assistant Chief Minister, Deputy Malcolm Ferey .

Review Workstreams

Four workstreams have been developed to identify ways in which the Law, and the management and processing of FOI requests within SPAs, can be improved to support transparency while ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

1. Operational Improvements

Identifying changes to internal processes, procedures and training to improve the way the Law is implemented, and information is disclosed.

2. Improved Access to Information

How to reduce the administrative burden and cost of Freedom of Information requests through proactivity.

This includes two aspects:

1. Information/data that should be systematically published by the SPAs within the States of Jersey.
2. How SPAs can engage with repeat requestors more effectively to understand and support their needs.

3. Extent of the Law

A review of the current extension of the Law to arms-length bodies and state-owned entities, previous decisions of the States Assembly regarding further extension, and a consideration of which public authorities should the Law apply to, given global precedents.

4. Legislative Improvements

What changes may be required to deliver public policy objectives.

Workstream 1 – Operational Improvements

The Central Information Governance Office (CIGO') serves as the FOI policy and request- handling hub within the Government of Jersey. This includes:

• Developing FOI policy, guidance, and training programs to ensure SPAs and Ministers comply with the Law and the standards set by the Jersey Office Information Commissioner.

• Acting as the public-facing contact point - receiving, logging, tracking, and directing FOI requests across SPAs

• Coordinating with departmental FOI contacts via an internal FOI network to facilitate efficient retrieval and processing of information.

• Working alongside the Data Protection and Public Records function, overseen by the Head of Information Governance, to align FOI and data protection and records practices with compliance.

• Maintaining oversight and reporting on departmental FOI performance and readiness, while providing expert support on complex requests to safeguard legislative integrity.

Importantly, while the CIGO manages request flow and policy governance, each SPA retains legal responsibility for decisions on disclosure.

The SPAs which form part of the Government and States of Jersey, are as follows:

• Employment, Social Security and Housing

• Children, Young People, Education and Skills

• Health and Care Jersey

• Justice and Home Affairs

• States of Jersey Police

• States Treasurer and Exchequer

• Infrastructure & Environment

• Strategic Policy, Performance and Population

• People Services

• Digital Services

• Ministerial Support Unit

• Department for the Economy

• External Relations

• States Greffe

• Judicial Greffe

• Viscount's Department

Over the course of 2025, the CIGO has been working to implement practical improvements to the processing and central management of FOI requests. The following changes have been made:

Procedures and training

• New training sessions and 2025 training commitment started for all FOI Points of Contact (POCs).

• Senior Leadership Team updates and training provided to 90% of SPAs.

• New monthly POC meetings delivering a collaborative workspace, improvements, and learnings.

• New processes and procedures for SPAs, for improved and consistent public delivery.

• Removal of aggregated requests to support the delivery of each SPA as a separate body.

Managing appeals

• Improved process delivered for Internal Reviews, reducing the volume, improving the rigour of the review and objectivity of panel, and clarifying the grounds for review.

• New templates and processes for JOIC appeal responses.

• A new Vexatious Request process to address FOI requests that are sought for an illegitimate reason, which may include a desire to cause administrative difficulty or inconvenience.

Customer engagement

• CIGOrelationship-building with regular requestors to support their requests when not an FOI; either by telephone or email.

• Delivering a focus and understanding that it is a request for Information Held by the SPA not a function for asking questions or processing complaints. States of Jersey have other mechanisms to manage these.

• FOI webpage information updated to provide greater clarity for the public covering SPAs, Information Held, the appeal process for the response and more.

• All 2025 responses now show the FOI number, for easier searches. By the end of Summer 2025 all 2025 responses will also show the SPA that supplied the response.

• Small weekly changes are being made to the online portal. Consistency with written responses from the CIGO.

The following improvements are being planned for the remainder of 2025: Delivery of a Government of Jersey FOI Framework

• Development of a regular FOI Training schedule.

• Training for the Executive Leadership Team and Minsters.

• Collaborative change to both GOJ & JOIC Webpages on FOI.

• Further knowledge development around the application of Articles 3 & 16 of the Law relating to the meaning of information held by an SPA', and the ability to refuse a request if the costs of supplying information are excessive.

Introduction of a new Freedom of Information Portal

To support the ongoing drive for efficiency, accuracy and transparency, we propose the development of a new digital FOI portal.

The intention would be to improve our systems to streamline the end-to-end management of FOI requests, i.e. from receipt of a request to providing a response. It would reduce the need for manual processing and correction, especially in the central team; and enable more consistent responses.

For users, the portal would provide a clearer, more accessible interface for submitting their requests; while for team members, it would offer improved tools for triaging, collaborating on, and responding to enquiries.

This investment would help future-proof FOI delivery in Jersey, supporting both operational sustainability and public engagement, such that government spends less time administrative tasks and more time on quality assurance.

It would also improve the accuracy and reliability of FOI data and statistics as they would be based on the data inputted into the portal by the requestor when making their request, enhancing the sophistication of internal and external reporting, and accountability.

Workstream 2 – Improved access to information

The Government of Jersey aims to reduce the administrative and financial burden of responding to Freedom of Information requests by taking a more proactive approach to transparency.

While the right to request information remains a core democratic tool, a growing volume of FOI requests, particularly from repeat requestors, has placed significant pressure on departmental resources.

To inform this work, we have undertaken a detailed review of 2024 FOI activity. Analysis shows that over one quarter of all FOI requests (291 out of 1,084) came from just 15 requestors, with the remaining 793 submitted by approximately 500 others.

A significant portion of these repeat requests originate from media organisations, both institutional and individual journalists, as well as a small group of individual requestors who are heavily engaged in public business.

This workstream focuses on two key strategies for reducing this burden:

1. Identifying high-value information and datasets that should be routinely published without the need for an FOI request. Initial engagement with SPAs and Statistics Jersey has begun to proactively identify data suitable for regular publication from mid-2025, subject to necessary exemptions and anonymisation protocols.
2. Supporting SPAs to engage more effectively with frequent requestors, understanding more about the nature of their concerns and explaining the available avenues to them (without prejudicing their right to formally request information via the FOI Law)

We will also, as a central team, ensure requests are effectively triaged and ensure the requests are genuinely legitimate requests for "Information Held" and not enquiries or questions which should or can be managed elsewhere, whether through the political or internal processes.

The overarching goal is to shift from a reactive to a proactive model of information release improving efficiency, reducing duplication, and ultimately enhancing public confidence in open government.

Review and Analysis of 2017 - 2023 FOI requests

Number of annual FOI requests  Source: Published FOI data

1400 1200 1000 800 600 400

1207

Number of FOI Request

s

200 0

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Year

Detailed Analysis of 2024 FOI requests Source: FOI Internal data

Number of requests per SPA (2024)

FOI requests by stated Requester Type (2024)

Detail of repeat requestors

FOI requests by Topic (2024)

Analysis of frequent FOI requests

In summer 2023, Statistics Jersey carried out an analysis of FoI requests made between January 2015 - July 2023. This identified a number of topics which were subject to repeat FoI requests, including:

• The number and breakdown of prescriptions issued

• A breakdown of pupil and teacher statistics and demographics

• Economy Department subsidies and funding

• Health and Care Jersey staffing and recruitment, along with information on the number and type of hospital beds

• Number of licensed taxis broken down into different plates; white, yellow and purple

• Number of domestic abuse incidents/call outs; road traffic collisions; speeding offences

• Coins in circulation

The Chief Statistician has subsequently been encouraging and supporting Statistician and Departmental Analysis Leads to proactively publish more data that is available within departments and public authorities.

Work in progress to proactively publish more data and make it more accessible Statistics Jersey maintain a release schedule which serves two purposes:

1. It contains links to over 800 published statistical reports back to 2002, to provide a one- stop shop for access to such reports. Statistics Jersey's new website Statistics Jersey | The National Statistical Office for Jersey includes improved search facilities to make it easier to search for and find published statistical reports.
2. A schedule of dates for future statistical reports, which currently runs to January 2027. This is good practice as it provides transparency for users over what statistical reports and data are due to be published.

At the time of writing (August 2025) there are twenty-three separate reports listed on the future schedule, some of which repeat (e.g. quarterly RPI). Currently the following pre- announce publication dates of their statistical reports:

Revenue Jersey have recently agreed to pre-announce the publication date of future Tax Digest statistical reports in the forward release schedule

Making more data available

The Department for Employment, Social Security and Housing (ESSH) already publish Open Data on Welcome - Government of Jersey Open Data.

Analysts in ESSH have recently started publishing more data on gov.je. Performance statistics for Employment, Social Security and Housing includes tables on:

• Service Performance Measures

• Income Support

• Back to Work

• Old Age Pension

Further development of these pages is planned, to expand the range and presentation of the data.

The Department for Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES) publishes some statistical data at Children and young people statistics for Jersey but is planning to soon expand this with web pages focused on:

• Pupil numbers and characteristics

• Attendance and absence

• Attainment

• Children in need

In addition, the States of Jersey Police have made an initial commitment to the twice yearly publication of crime statistics from this Autumn.

Workstream 3 – Extent of the Law

The goal of this workstream is to ensure that the Law reflects the original policy direction set by the States Assembly, while maintaining operational sustainability and proportionality.

Policy Basis and Legislative Intent

Under P.149/2014, a Proposition brought by Deputy Labey of St Martin in 2014, the States Assembly agreed that the scope of the Law should be extended to:

• Companies wholly owned by the States of Jersey, including Andium Homes, the States of Jersey Development Company (SoJDC), Jersey Post, and Jersey Telecom.

• Companies in which the States holds a controlling interest as majority shareholder, such as Jersey Electricity and Jersey Water.

This resolution acknowledged that these bodies, while operating commercially, are ultimately custodians of public assets and deliver public services. Their inclusion in FOI is therefore a natural extension of government transparency and accountability.

At present, the Law has not been amended to include any arms-length entity save for Andium Homes.

Scope of Assessment

This workstream will consider:

• Arms-length organisations (ALOs') established by the Government of Jersey or States Assembly to undertake business

• State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs') – both wholly owned and majority-controlled entities.

• Publicly funded organisations, particularly those receiving the majority of their operational funding from government.

• The practical and legal implications of including these bodies under the Law, via Schedule 1 amendments.

Comparative Insights

An initial review of other common law jurisdictions and small island administrations (including the UK, Australia, Canada, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Cayman Islands, and Guernsey) found significant commonalities in how FOI regimes define public authorities:

• Wholly-owned government companies are routinely subject to FOI laws, either automatically or via designation (e.g. UK, Canada, Australia).

• Statutory corporations and arms-length bodies performing public functions are commonly included.

• Majority public funding alone does not generally trigger inclusion in FOI regimes, but in many jurisdictions, governments have introduced publication obligations or contractual clauses to ensure transparency where public funds are involved.

• In jurisdictions like the Isle of Man and Gibraltar, extensions to state-owned or controlled entities were phased and guided by operational feasibility.

• These findings support the case for Jersey to move toward broader coverage, aligned with international best practice and the legislative intent of P.149/2014.

Statistical Analysis

A high-level review of FOI activity shows:

• A notable number of requests refer to entities currently outside the scope of the law, particularly SOEs and utility providers.

• Projections suggest a measurable, but manageable, volume of future requests if such bodies are brought under FOI.

Stakeholder Engagement

In Autumn 2025, the Government of Jersey will conduct a public consultation (Shown in Annex 1) designed to:

• Assess public views on the current extent of the Law, and whether extension to ALOs and SOEs would provide a benefit.

• Engage with ALOs, SOEs, and majority-funded entities to assess readiness, concerns, and resource implications of their inclusion in the Law, based on agreed design principles.

• Discuss opportunities for a phased extension, supported by tailored guidance and capacity-building.

Next Steps

• Consolidate engagement outcomes and analysis into a clear policy rationale and options paper.

• Submit proposals to the Council of Ministers for consideration in Q4 2025.

• Develop draft legislative amendments for extending FOI coverage in line with best practice, ensuring a proportionate and phased approach that protects both transparency and operational efficiency.

Workstream 4 – Legislative improvements

This workstream is focused on reviewing the framework of the Law to assess whether legislative amendments are needed to support a clearer, more consistent, and operationally effective regime.

While the priority for 2025 lies in delivering the foundational work of Workstreams 1 to 3 (on improving process efficiency, reducing burden through proactivity, and considering the scope of the Law) Workstream 4 will commence in the latter half of 2025, building on those outputs.

The aim is to examine whether any provisions of the current Law require refinement, clarification, or reform, particularly in light of operational experience and evolving best practice.

The initial phase of Workstream 4 will include:

• A review of relevant States Assembly decisions and previous White Papers or consultation papers relating to potential amendments to the Law.

• An evaluation of operational feedback from the Central FOI Unit, including identification of any recurring challenges, gaps (lacunas) in the existing Articles, or tensions between the legislation, published guidance, and day-to-day application.

• A review of published guidance and decisions from the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner (JOIC) and selected caselaw.

• A comparative assessment of FOI legislation in other jurisdictions, particularly those with similar common law or small-island contexts. For example, Guernsey's FOI Code is only available to residents and excludes non-residents from making requests.

This workstream will lay the groundwork for a coherent legislative update, if required, to ensure the Law remains robust, future-proofed, and aligned with both public expectations and government capabilities.

Conclusions and next steps

This Interim Report provides an update on the progress made across the first three workstreams of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 review. It confirms that while the Law has significantly advanced transparency in Jersey, there are clear opportunities to improve its efficiency, extend its reach, and ensure its continued relevance.

Key findings to date include:

• A small number of repeat requestors account for a proportionately high share of FOI activity.

• There is strong potential to reduce administrative burden through more proactive publication of commonly requested data.

• Jersey's current scope of FOI coverage lags behind comparable jurisdictions, particularly in relation to state-owned and majority-controlled entities.

Looking ahead, the next phase of the review will include:

• Engaging with ALOs and SOEs on the practicalities of extending FOI coverage.

• Identifying and preparing 3–6 statistical datasets for routine publication from Autumn 2025.

• Beginning the legislative review in Autumn 2025 to address any structural or operational issues within the Law itself.

A full set of proposals, including any recommendations for legislative change, will be brought forward for Council of Ministers consideration in late 2025, with a view to lodging any necessary legislative amendments for States Assembly Debate in 2026.

A final report will be lodged with the Assembly at the conclusion of 2025.

Annex 1 – Proposed Public Consultation Introduction

The Government of Jersey is reviewing the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 to ensure it continues to promote transparency, accountability and public trust in a way that is fair, proportionate and fit for purpose.

As part of this review, we are considering whether the Law should be extended to cover a wider range of publicly owned or publicly funded organisations including States-owned entities, statutory bodies, and organisations that receive significant public funding.

Your feedback will help shape proposals for how the FOI Law could evolve to better reflect modern governance and public expectations.

This consultation asks for your views on:

• Whether certain types of organisations (e.g. wholly or partly States-owned, or statutory bodies) should be brought within the scope of the FOI Law;

• Whether the amount of public funding an organisation receives should influence its FOI obligations;

• What challenges, exemptions or support may be needed if the Law is extended.

We welcome responses from both individuals and organisations. If you are responding on behalf of a public body, charity, business or other entity, there is space to provide details and outline any specific considerations relevant to your sector.

The consultation will be open until [insert October 2025], and the findings will help inform formal policy proposals to be brought forward in 2026.

Thank you for taking the time to share your views. Principles

Organisations under consideration

States Owned Entities (SOEs)

Fully owned by the States of Jersey  Partly owned by the States of Jersey Andium Homes Limited  Jersey Water

Jersey Post International Limited  Jersey Electricity Plc

JT Group Limited  -

The States of Jersey Development Company  -

Limited

Ports of Jersey Limited  -

States Established (in statute) independent bodies and office holders

Statistics Council  Statistics and Census (Jersey) Law2018 States Established delivery entities

Non – state established entities that receive grants from the Government (based on Public Accounts 2024)

Questions:

1. Are you responding on behalf of one of the organisations listed above?

• Yes – If so, please provide the name of the organisation and contact email address. Organisation name:   Contact email:

• No

2. To promote greater transparency and accountability, do you agree that Jersey's Freedom of Information Law should be extended to include all States (fully and partly) Owned Entities?

• Yes – the Freedom of Information Law should include all States Owned Entities.

• No – the Freedom of Information Law should only include Entities that are fully owned by the States of Jersey.

• No – the Freedom of Information Law should not include any States Owned Entities.

• Other, please specify below:

3. Should the establishment of a body in statute (e.g. Comptroller and Auditor General, Jersey Financial Services Commission) be a criterion for its inclusion under the Freedom of Information Law?

☐ Yes, statutory bodies exercise functions on behalf of the public.

☐ Yes, but only if they receive public funding.

☐ No, statutory bodies should not be included in the Freedom of Information Law.

☐ Other, please specify below:

4. Do you agree that the level of transparency and accountability required of an organisation should be proportionate to the amount of public funding it receives?

• Yes – organisations receiving more public funding should be held to higher transparency standards.

• Partially – funding should be a factor, but other elements (like public impact or function) should also be considered.

• No – all organisations receiving any public funding should be equally accountable, regardless of the amount.

• No – public funding should not determine an organisation's obligations under the Freedom of Information Law.

• Other, please specify below: If yes, go to Q4.

4. What level of public funding should serve as a threshold for an organisation to be brought within the scope of the Freedom of Information Law?

• Any receipt of public funding

• more than £100,000

• more than £150,000

• more than £200,000

• more than £500,000

• A proportion of total income (e.g. more than 50% publicly funded)

• Other, please specify below:

If responding on behalf of one of the organsiations listed above:

5. What challenges or risks do you foresee if your organisation were brought under the Freedom of Information Law?

• Increase in administrative workload

• Staff training and capacity to manage FOI requests

• Need for additional financial resourcing

• Clash of FOI requests with the scope of the organisation

• Risk of disclosing commercially sensitive or confidential information

• Other, please specify below:

6. Are there specific types of information your organisation believes should be protected from disclosure?
7. If the FOI Law were extended to include your organisation, what support or guidance would you need to implement it effectively?

[1] The annual figure for 2024 FOI requests follows an in-depth review of all FOI requests received, and the removal of any erroneous or duplicative data, including those requests that were withdrawn, refused or identical repetition of existing requests.