Overspend and underspend by Government of Jersey in 2023 (FOI)

​​Request  

Please publish the total amount of overspend and underspend across each Government of Jersey department in 2023. 

Response 

This information will be included in the Government of Jersey’s 2023 Annual Report and Accounts. This is intended to be published within the next 12 weeks and will be available on www.gov.je. Article 36 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law has therefore been applied.  

Article applied   

Article 36 - Information intended for future publication

(1) Information is qualified exempt information if, at the time when the request for the

information is made, the information is being held by a public authority with a view to its being published within 12 weeks of the date of the request.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground

must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant –

(a) of the date when the information will be published;

(b) of the manner in which it will be published; and

(c) by whom it will be published.

(3) In this Article, “published” means published –

(a) by a public authority; or

(b) by any other person.

Public Interest Test   

Article 36 is a qualified exemption, which means that a public interest test has to be undertaken to examine the circumstances of the case and decide whether, on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.  

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   

• It is intended to publish the relevant documentation on www.gov.je within 12 weeks of the receipt of this request. It is reasonable for government to publish reports in an orderly manner, following completion of appropriate internal processes, and publishing in advance, and in such close proximity to the expected publication date, would potentially undermine the orderly publication and conduct of government work (when the public benefit of earlier publication under the Law would derive limited benefit).