States Meeting Summary 11 September
States Assembly
11 September 2025
Public BusinessAt the beginning of the Meeting, the Chair of the Privileges and Procedures Committee, Deputy Steve Ahier, proposed extending the meeting until 8pm tonight (Thursday 11 September) and until 8pm on Friday 12 September to complete the items listed under Public Business.
The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Committee’s proposition with 26 votes for, 20 votes against and 0 abstentions.
Skip 6 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear the debate in full.
P.24 Draft Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-.
The Meeting continued with the debate into proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancy Law. The proposition was lodged by the Minister for Housing, Deputy Sam Mezéc. A number of amendments to the proposition were also lodged.
Fourth Amendment
The Environment Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel proposed several amendments to the proposition with the aim of strengthening the draft legislation. The Panel presented the amendments in parts.
Debate resumed on Amendment D1 which proposed removing criminal penalties from the primary legislation and place into secondary legislation to enable additional time for consultation.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Panel’s amendment, with 46 votes for, 0 votes against and 0 abstentions
- Skip 24 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear the continuation of the debate.
Third Amendment
Deputy Jonathan Renouf proposed an amendment to the proposition which would remove the 5% cap on rent rises for the annual rent increase in an existing tenancy.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE Deputy Renouf’s amendment, with 46 votes for, 0 votes against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip 30 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear the debate in full.
Fourth Amendment
The Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel then proposed the remaining parts of its amendment, Amendment A3 and A2.
Amendment A3 proposed removing the Minister’s Order-making power in relation to the Rent Tribunal’s rent-cap exemption and any expansion of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.
Amendment A2 proposed requiring any changes to the qualification requirements for Rent Tribunal members to be made by Regulations, not by Ministerial Order.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Panel’s amendments, with 43 votes for, 0 votes against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip 1 hour and 7 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear the debate in full.
The States Assembly agreed to resume the debate relating to the Second and Third readings of the Draft Residential Tenancy Law once an updated version of the law, reflecting the amendments which have been agreed, was circulated to Members.
Members agreed to address other items of business while the updated version of the law was prepared and circulated.
P.40 - Draft Children and Young People (Place of Police Detention) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-.
The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, proposed that where a child under the age of 18 has been charged with an offence and refused bail, a Centenier can place the child in suitable Government accommodation. The Amendment would also raise the threshold for denying bail.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Minister’s proposition, with 42 votes for, 1 vote against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip 1 hour and 19 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear the debate in full.
P.55/2025 Draft Children and Civil Status (Consequential Amendments) (Jersey) Amendment No. 2 Regulations 202-.
The Minister for Children and Families, Connétable Richard Vibert, proposed further amendments that are required as a consequence of the Assembly’s decision to adopt the Children and Civil Status Law 2024.
The amendments make further provision for children conceived as a result of fertility treatment or surrogacy arrangements.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Minister's proposition with 44 votes for, 0 votes against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip 1 hour and 42 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear the debate in full.
P.56/2025 Draft Elections (Senators) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-.
The Privileges and Procedures Committee proposed the Draft Elections (Senators) Law following the Assembly’s decision in March to reinstate 9 Senators as Island-wide representatives and to make the corresponding reduction in the number of Deputies, with effect from the next election on 7 June 2026.
A number of amendments to the proposition were lodged. These are presented in the order in which they were voted on by the Assembly.
Please note: Under Standing Orders, as the Proposition seeks to alter the membership of the States Assembly, it will require a majority (minimum of 25 votes for) to be adopted.
Skip 2 hours and 9 minutes into this morning’s recording to watch the debate on the principles of the law in full.
Amendment
Connétable Simon Crowcroft proposed an amendment to the proposition which would reduce the number of Senators to seven and allocate two additional Deputy seats to St. Helier South and St. Helier North in order to balance representation.
- The States Assembly voted to REJECT Connétable Crowcroft's amendement with 24 votes for, 21 votes against and 1 abstention.
Under Standing Orders, as the Amendment sought to alter the membership of the States Assembly, it required a majority (minimum of 25 votes for) to be adopted.
Watch from the beginning of this afternoon’s recording to watch the debate in full.
Fourth Amendment
Deputy Montfort Tadier proposed an amendment to the proposition which would see separate elections for Senators, one month before the election for Deputies and Constables.
- The States Assembly voted to REJECT Deputy Tadier’s amendment with 18 votes for, 28 votes against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip 1 hour and 26 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the debate in full.
Second Amendment
The Comité des Connétables proposed an amendment to the propositon which would mean that if a Senatorial vacancy arose less than nine months before an ordinary election, the Royal Court could not call a by-election. The current timeframe is six months.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Comité des Connétables amendment with 31 votes for, 14 votes against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip 2 hours and 55 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the debate on the amendment in full.
Third Amendment
Deputy Hilary Jeune proposed an amendment to the proposition to strengthen island-wide representation and require each Senatorial candidate to gather proposers and seconders from across the Island.
The Deputy amended this amendment to simplify it and require 1 proposer from anywhere in the Island, and 9 seconders, one from each of Jersey’s nine Deputy electoral constituencies. This was read as amended.
- The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 20 votes for, 22 votes against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip to 1 minute into this evening’s recording to watch the debate on the amendment in full.
P.56/2025 Draft Elections (Senators) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-.
After all amendments were debated and voted upon, the Assembly then voted on the proposition, as amended.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Committe’s proposition (as amended) with 28 votes for, 17 votes against and 0 abstentions.
- Skip 42 minutes into this evening’s recording to watch the debate on the third reading in full.
P.58 Extension of Section 75 (Electronic Travel Authorisations) of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 to Jersey
The Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham, proposed that Jersey adopts the Nationality and Borders Act which would strengthen border controls through the introduction of an Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme for people traveling to Jersey without a visa. This also ensures Jersey residents can continue to travel freely to other parts of the British Isles.
- The States Assembly voted to APPROVE the Chief Minister's proposition with 40 votes for, 1 vote against and 1 abstention.
- Skip 1 hours and 22 minutes into this evening’s recording to hear the debate in full.
Adjournment
The States Assembly then adjourned and will reconvene at 9:30am tomorrow, Friday 12 September 2025, where they will start with an urgent question to the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development from Deputy Tadier, before continuing to debate the proposed changes to the Residential Tenancy Law.
