Mydeposits scheme (FOI)

Request

Since November 2015, in case of any disputes, all Jersey tenants deposits are held in the "Mydeposits" Jersey tenancy deposit scheme, run by a UK Company.

Please advise:

A

How much in tenants deposits does this UK company hold?

B

How much in interest earned or other has "Mydeposits", been paid or gained since November 2015?

C

Does the Government of Jersey give any grants to The Jersey Community Savings Bank?

Response

A

At end of August 2019, the mydeposits Jersey tenancy deposit scheme held £9,449,382 in protected tenancy deposit money. This equates to 12,693 protected deposits.

B

Information on the interest earned on the scheme account is exempt under the Article 33(b) (Commercial Interests) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

C

The Government of Jersey has made available grant funding to Community Savings to support the organisation with its activities. The funding for 2017/2018 is documented in Ministerial Decision MD-TR-2017-0069, available in the following link:

Community Savings Limited: Grant

No grant has been made in 2019.

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).

Public Interest Test

A tender process to appoint a scheme provider for the tenancy deposit scheme will commence by the end of 2019. It is considered the request for details of interest earned could be used for competitive advantage at a time when the Government of Jersey is about to procure for the scheme.