News

States Meeting summary: 10-11 September

​Question Time 

Questions with notice 

This week’s States Meeting began with Ministers answering States Members’ questions with notice.  

Skip to page 8 of the Order Paper to find out which questions were asked and watch from 8 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear questions with notice in full.  

Questions without notice 

States Members then asked the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel; Minister for Treasury and Resources, Deputy Elaine Millar; and the Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham, questions without notice for 15 minutes each. 

Skip to 2 hours and 20 minutes into this morning’s recording to watch the questions without notice.  

Public Business 

P.29 Draft Statistics and Census (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- 

Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham, proposed a Draft Statistics and Census (Jersey) Amendment Law, as amended by Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache (which was also amended by the Chief Minister). This proposition sought to introduce significant changes to the governance of Statistics Jersey, to bring Jersey’s statistical system in line with international best practice. It will provide for better governance of the Office of the Chief Statistician by: 

• Increasing the professional independence of the Chief Statistician and those working for them 

• Giving the Chief Statistician the right to comment on all aspects of statistics 

• Securing a process to provide for adequate funding. 

In addition, the draft Law will: 

• Establish a Statistics Council to replace the Statistics Users Group 

• Provide additional protection for Jersey’s most important statistics 

• Strengthen and formalise Jersey’s existing decentralised statistical system. 

Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache’s amendment to the proposition would place a cap on the amount of damages that a court could award if a person is wronged by the Chief Statistician or any of their staff.  

The Chief Minister's amendment to the amendment, asked that public authorities cannot be held liable for damages if someone suffers a loss from relying on their information or statistics, unless the data was created in bad faith or damages are needed to address a human rights violation. 

Watch from the beginning of this afternoon’s recording to watch the debate and vote. 

The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Chief Minister’s proposition in third reading as amended by Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache, in a standing vote. 

P.41 Draft Agriculture (Loans) (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202- 

The Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel, proposed an amendment to the Agriculture (Loans) (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202- which will reduce the annual interest rate chargeable on agricultural loans from 6.5% to 3%. The Amendment will also reduce the number of members of the Agricultural Loans and Guarantees Advisory Board from ten persons to five. 

Watch from 35 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the debate. 

The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development’s proposition in third reading, with 43 votes for, 0 votes against, and 1 abstention. 

P.47 Draft Telecommunications Law (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202- 

The Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel, proposed amendments to the Telecommunications (Jersey) Law 2002, that will establish a new telecommunications security framework allowing the Government to impose, monitor and enforce controls on the use of certain vendors’ goods, services, and facilities by Jersey’s public communications providers. Additionally, the amendments strengthen the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority's powers to ensure compliance. 

Watch from 1 hour 30 minutes in this afternoon’s recording to watch the debate. 

The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development’s proposition in third reading in a standing vote. 

P.48 Draft Patents Law and Registered Designs Law (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202- 

The Minister for External Relations, Deputy Ian Gorst, proposed to amend the Patents (Jersey) Law 1957 and Registered Designs (Jersey) Law 1957, to enable Jersey to request the extension to the Island of the UK’s ratification of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Geneva Act (1999) of the Hague Agreement on the International Registration of Industrial Designs. 

Watch from 2 hours 5 minutes in this afternoon’s recording to watch the beginning of the debate. 

The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Minister for External Relations' proposition in third reading, with 44 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions. 

Adjournment  

The States Assembly then adjourned and will begin the debate on Draft Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- tomorrow morning at 9:30am. 

Wednesday 11 September

Public Business

P.49 Draft Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- 

Today’s States Meeting began with the Minister for External Relations, Deputy Ian Gorst’s, proposed amendments to the Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law 2020, which would allow those required to perform customer due diligence under the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008 to access beneficial owner information held by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. 

Watch from 8 minutes into this morning’s recording to watch the debate. 

 The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Minister for External Relations' proposition, with 44 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions. 

P.50 Comptroller and Auditor General Board of Governance: Re-appointment of Member 

Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham proposed to re-appoint Mr Robert Tinlin MBE as an independent member of the Board of Governance of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, for a term of five years from the end of his current term of office in March 2025. 

Watch from 57 minutes into this morning’s recording to watch the debate. 

The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Chief Minister’s proposition with a standing vote. 

P.52 Jersey Police Complaints Authority – Appointment of Chair and Member 

Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat proposed to appoint Chris Stephenson as Chair of the Jersey Police Complaints Authority, and Mr Simon Burgess as a member of the Authority, each for a period of three years commencing immediately. 

Watch from 1 hour and 2 minutes into this morning’s recording to watch the debate. 

The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs’ proposition with a standing vote. 

Adjournment  

The States Assembly then adjourned and will reconvene at the next States Meeting, beginning at 9:30am on Tuesday 1 October.