Le Port Surf School (FOI)

Request

With regards to the area at Le Port that is used by Le Port Surf School, I ask the following questions:

A

How much is the Le Port Surf School paying to lease the area per year?

B

Who is the said monies being paid to?

C

What are the conditions of its use?

D

How much of the area in sq. ft. has been allocated to Le Port Surf School?

Response

A

Le Port Surf School have a rolling licence to use an area at Le Port, as opposed to a Lease. Information in relation to the licence fee paid is exempt under Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

B

The Jersey Property Holdings section of Growth, Housing and Environment receive the fees payable.

C

The agreed use of the licensed site and approved Portakabin on the site is as a surf school location and for the storage of surf school equipment including wetsuits and surfboards.

D

The licensed site is an area measuring 1,053 sq. ft., located at the southern end of Le Port Linear Car Park.

Article applied

Article 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).

Justification

Article 33 is a qualified exemption and the following considerations were taken into account:

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

• disclosure of the information would support transparency and promote accountability to the general public

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information

• the licence fee paid is commercially confidential. Licence fees and rentals paid for individual sites are determined using a number of factors, including location, agreement type, duration, tenant obligations and other reasons that will provide differences in rental sums charged

• the information being requested is of significant commercial value and its disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of the tenant, Le Port Surf School and those of the Government of Jersey

• disclosure of the rentals paid to the Government of Jersey would seriously harm our commercial interests by way of undermining our own competitive position when negotiating new lettings, renewals and rent reviews

Taking into account these factors, we have decided in favour of withholding details of the licence fee paid.