Communications between Ministers regarding Battle of Flowers (FOI)

Request 695376240​​

​Please could I request: 

Any internal and external communications, including emails, relating to the Association, funding, financial difficulties, and future planning of the Battle of Flowers event from January 2023 to present. 

Clarification:

Please could I have emails to Lyndon and Kirsten from Russel Labey or other members of the Battle of Flowers association + emails between the ministers and their chief officers or other senior civil servants that include the following search terms: Battle of Flowers, Battle, BoF.

Response

Searches were run on the email accounts of Deputy Lyndon Farnham and Deputy Kirsten 

Morel for the period 1st January 2023 to 10th March 2025 using the words:

‘Battle of Flowers’ 

Battle’ 

And ‘BOF’ 

All correspondence in scope is attached.

Attachment 1.pdf

Attachment 2.pdf​

Correspondence has been redacted in accordance with Article 25 (Personal Information), Article 33 (Commercial Sensitivity) and Article 35 (Policy Under Development) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Articles applied

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

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

Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information Law allows an authority to refuse a request for information where its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information). 

Whilst it is accepted that the public may have an interest in the requested information, it is considered that releasing this information could affect the commercial interests of the suppliers and the Government of Jersey.

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

Article 35 is a qualified exemption and, as such, the Government of Jersey has conducted a prejudice test as required by law.

The Government of Jersey has made an assessment on whether in all of the circumstances the public interest in disclosing the information would be outweighed by the prejudice that would be likely if it were disclosed.

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 continue to 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, this includes discussions relating to public statements. 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 work is being undertaken
• 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, law 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 and legal development as iterations of documents are demonstrative of the development process
• the need for this safe space is considered at its greatest during the live stages of development
• release of the information at this stage might generate misinformed debate. This would affect the ability of officials to consider and develop policy and law 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.

Therefore, having considered the public interest, the Government of Jersey has concluded that the public interest in disclosing this information is outweighed by the potential prejudice that would likely result. ​