Dormant Bank Accounts (Jersey) Law 2017 (FOI)

​​​​Request

Under article 10 (2) of the Dormant Bank Accounts (Jersey) Law 2017 the Chief Minister is required to produce an annual report on the operation of this law.  Please supply copies since the inception of the law. 

Response

Information is publicly available on www.gov.je therefore Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

The States of Jersey publishes an Annual Report and Accounts each year, containing information regarding the Dormant Bank Accounts (Jersey) Law 2017. Information can be found in the following places of each report: 

Annual Report​	Page reference
2022 States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je)	6, 105, 259, 308, 309
2021 States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je)	188, 215, 242, 384, 385
2020 Government of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je)	123, 143, 174, 318, 331
2019 Government of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je)	105, 126, 240
2018 States of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts 2018.pdf (gov.je)	137, 211, 266, 284, 295

​Information for 2023 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 therefore applies.

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). ​