Five years ago, the world was plunged into a state of the unknown. The word ‘Covid’ – previously unheard of until a couple of weeks earlier – had suddenly taken over the lexicon as hastily arranged press conferences were called and news reports outside hospitals became the norm.
In Jersey, 14-day isolation requirements for everyone coming into the Island were issued on 20 March 2020, before the dreaded stay-at-home order was made ten days later.
Overnight, the ways people lived and worked were drastically changed with bedrooms and kitchen counters becoming makeshift office spaces and time outside was restricted to a couple of socially distanced hours a day.
For the States Assembly, important legislation still needed to be debated with emergency orders designed to tackle the spread of Covid-19 needing the agreement of Members but ‘business as usual’ was not the option.
Preparing for Covid
Prior to lockdown and social distancing measures coming into force in Jersey, the Assembly allowed, for the first time in its history, Members to attend States Sittings remotely.
The measures were put in place in case a significant number of the Assembly either fell ill or were required to self-isolate. The new Standing Order allowed Members attending virtually to speak during debates and vote as if they were present in the Chamber.
Fort Regent
By the time Jersey went into lockdown, the Assembly had already held a hybrid-working Sitting at Fort Regent with some Members attending in person in the Fort’s Gloucester Hall while others attended remotely.
The one-day Meeting was fully focused on pandemic measures. The usual States Question Time was simply an extended period of Questions Without Notice with Members able to ask any Minister about the Government response to the pandemic, while the debates were centred around granting the Assembly the power to pass primary legislation without the need for Privy Council approval. These included the ability to create stay-at-home orders and close the Island’s schools.
The trial hybrid States sitting ran smoothly, but Assembly business would soon have to move fully digital once the first lockdown was announced.
Online sittings
On this day five years ago, Jersey became the first Parliament in the Commonwealth to hold a fully virtual meeting.
With the help of Digital Jersey and IT support staff, the States Greffe set the wheels in motion to host States Meetings online with the expectation that the rapidly evolving situation would need to be dealt with at equal pace by the Island’s lawmakers.
On 1 April 2020, the day before the Assembly was due to meet, a trial virtual Meeting was held on Teams, which uncovered issues with the software that meant those using tablets rather than laptops couldn’t not fully access the live function and, therefore, could not contribute properly. The evening before the sitting on 2 April was spent delivering laptops to all Members to ensure they could take part.
The Digital Jersey offices acted as the central hub for the Sitting, with the Presiding Officers and States Greffier hosting from there, while Members dialled in. That initial digital sitting was not without its teething problems – the camera for those watching was locked on the Presiding Officer for the entire sitting while there were also difficulties in taking the votes.
However, despite these early technical difficulties, the States Assembly was able to operate, debate and decide on propositions as intended with dozens of pieces of Emergency Legislation passed over the course of the next few digital Sittings.
In fact, for the remainder of 2020, all States sittings were held almost entirely digitally, while Scrutiny Hearings also moved online at various points during the pandemic.
And some of the measures brought in to allow States Sittings to continue are still in place, with Members permitted to attend and contribute virtually in some circumstances.