Hideout Kiosk, La Pulente Slipway (FOI)

Request

With reference to Planning Application MS/2020/1782 for The Hideout Kiosk. La Pulente Slipway, La Route de la Pulente, St. Brelade, please advise of the following:

A

Why is this kiosk still operating from the La Pulente Slipway as at 22 August 2023, when it was supposed to vacate the slipway on the 24 June 2023?

B

What laws currently permit a mobile kiosk to carry on trading, advertise for staff and pretend to be there permanently, when it effectively has no planning application visibly online to be there at all?

C

Why wasn't the Hideout Kiosk pitch put out to tender after the 24 June 2023 if a deal has been made for it to stay?

D

How long can the Hideout Kiosk continue to operate without planning permission before the Planning Department will do something about it?

E

If there are loop holes in the Planning Law which enable such situations to occur, what plans, if any, will there be to close them down in the future?

Response

A

An investigation regarding the requested site is currently being carried out by the Development and Land Compliance Team within Infrastructure and Environment.

Therefore, information relating to the investigation is currently exempt from release under Article 42 (Law Enforcement) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, as the disclosure of information at this time could prejudice the inquiry. 

Article 42 is a qualified exemption; therefore, a public interest test has been applied and is shown at the end of this response.

B

Planning permission has been granted on four separate occasions for the siting of a mobile hot food takeaway café since 2016.

The last of these, MS/2022/1028, was granted subject to a condition that allowed the use to continue until the 24 June 2023.

Under the provisions of Article 20 of the Planning and Building Law 2002, a planning application may be submitted for the retention of development that has already been undertaken, including where development does not comply with a condition subject to which a planning permission was granted.   

C

The referenced kiosk is not a Government of Jersey business; therefore, this would be negotiated between the landowner and the developer.  The requested information is not held, and Article 10 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

D

Where possible, the Development and Land Compliance Team’s remit is to consider and seek informal resolution of a breach of planning control through negotiation to achieve a satisfactory remedy before formal action is considered.  

No further information will currently be provided due to there being a live investigation as detailed in the response to question one.

Members of the public can contact the Development and Land Compliance Team to highlight any potential compliance matters that may require further investigation by emailing:

Enforcement@gov.je

Information regarding the enforcement process can be accessed using the following link.

Planning and building compliance (gov.je)

E

The Government of Jersey generally investigates any possible ‘loopholes’ as and when they are discovered.  However, information regarding any legislative changes would only be provided once any proposed changes have been approved.

Therefore Article 35 (Formulation and development of policies) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Release of the information at this stage would likely generate misinformed debate. This could affect the ability of officials to consider and develop policy away from external pressures, and to advise Ministers appropriately. 

Article 35 is a qualified exemption; therefore, a public interest test has been applied and is shown at the end of this response.

Articles applied

Article 35 - Formulation and development of policies

Information is qualified exempt information if it relates to the formulation or development of any proposed policy by a public authority.

Public Interest Test

In applying this article, 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, providing confirmation that the necessary discussions have taken place.
• Disclosure to the public fulfils an educative role about the early stages in policy development and illustrates how the department engages with parties for this purpose.  
  

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information 

• In order to best develop policy and provide advice to Ministers, officials need a safe space in which free and frank discussion can take place – discussion of how documentation is presented and provided is considered as integral to policy development as iterations of documents are demonstrative of the policy development process. 
• The need for this safe space is considered at its greatest during the live stages of a policy. 
• Release of the information at this stage might generate misinformed debate. This would affect the ability of officials to consider and develop policy away from external pressures, and to advise Ministers appropriately. 
• Premature disclosure of this information may limit the willingness of parties to provide their honest views and feedback. This would hamper and harm the policy–making process not only in relation to this subject area but in respect of future policy development across wider departmental business.
  

Following assessment, the Government of Jersey has concluded that, on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

It should also be noted that once a policy is formulated and published, the public interest in withholding information relating to its formulation is diminished, however, the use of the exemption can be supported if it preserves sufficient freedom during the policy formulation phase to explore options without that process being hampered by some expectation of future publication. 

Article 42 - Law enforcement

Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice –

(a) the prevention, detection or investigation of crime, whether in Jersey or elsewhere;

(b) the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, whether in respect of offences committed in Jersey or elsewhere;

(c) the administration of justice, whether in Jersey or elsewhere;

Public Interest Test

Whilst disclosure of the information would support transparency, promote accountability to the general public and provide confirmation that necessary actions are taking place, the investigations in this matter remain ongoing.

As such we believe that disclosure of these records would likely prejudice the outcome and the result of the case and that this potential prejudice outweighs the public interest in favour of disclosure at this time.