States Meeting summary: 18-19 March
19 March 2025
Appointments
This week’s States Meeting began with the appointment of Ali Awan as an unelected member of the Public Accounts Committee.
Skip to 10 minutes into this morning’s recording to watch the announcement in full.
Question Time
Questions with notice
Ministers then answered States Members’ questions with notice.
Skip to page 10 of the Order Paper to find out which questions were asked and watch from 13 minutes into this morning’s recording to hear questions with notice in full.
Questions without notice
States Members then asked the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Steve Luce; Minister for External Relations, Deputy Ian Gorst; and the Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham, questions without notice for 15 minutes each.
Skip to 2 hours and 33 minutes into this morning’s recording to watch questions without notice in full.
Urgent Oral Question
Deputy Montfort Tadier asked the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel, an urgent oral question regarding the Battle of Flowers.
Skip to page 13 of the Order Paper for more details regarding the question.
Watch from the beginning of this afternoon’s recording to hear the answer in full.
Statements
The Chair of the Hospital Review Panel, Deputy Jonathan Renouf, made a statement following the publication of a report into the Government’s News Healthcare Facilities Programme.
Skip to 16 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the statement in full.
The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Deputy Inna Gardiner, made a statement following the publication of a report into how the Government handles customer feedback and complaints.
Skip to 52 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the statement in full.
Public Business
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators
Deputy Elaine Millar proposed that the office of Senator, elected on an Island-wide basis, should be introduced in time for the 2026 election, and that it should be achieved by removing one Deputy from each constituency resulting in a total of nine Senators.
A number of amendments were proposed to the proposition which the Deputy did not accept.
Skip to 1 hour and 41 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the Deputy speech proposing the proposition.
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators - amendment
Deputy Tom Coles proposed an amendment that the reinstatement of the office of Senator is achieved by removing the role of Connétable from the States Assembly, resulting in a total of 12 Senators.
Under Standing Orders, the amendment will require a minimum of 25 votes for if it is to be adopted.
Skip to 2 hours and 6 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the Deputy's speech proposing the amendment.
Skip to 2 hours and 53 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the beginning of the debate on the amendment.
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators – amendment to the amendment
Deputy Kristina Moore proposed an amendment to the amendment which would replace the role of Connétable with eight Senator roles, reducing the number of Members within the States Assembly to 45.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 6 votes for, 38 votes against and 0 abstentions.
Skip to 2 hours and 16 minutes into this afternoon’s recording to watch the debate in full.
Wednesday 19 March
Statement
The meeting resumed with a personal statement from Deputy Philip Ozouf.
Go to five minutes into the start of the Wednesday morning recording to watch the Statement.
Public Business
The debate into amendments and the Proposition relating to the reinstatement of Senators then resumed from yesterday:
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators
Deputy Elaine Millar proposed on Tuesday, that the office of Senator, elected on an Island-wide basis, should be introduced in time for the 2026 election, and that it should be achieved by removing one Deputy from each constituency resulting in a total of nine Senators.
A number of amendments were proposed to the Proposition which the Deputy did not accept.
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators - amendment
Deputy Tom Coles proposed an amendment that the reinstatement of the office of Senator be achieved by removing the role of Connétable from the States Assembly, resulting in a total of 12 Senators.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT Deputy Coles’ amendment with 11 votes for, 33 votes against and 1 abstention.
Skip to 8 minutes into the Wednesday morning recording to watch the continuation of the debate.
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators – second amendment
Deputy Sam Mezéc proposed an amendment to the proposition that would have seen the office of Senator reinstated without reducing the number of Deputies. It also asked to establish an Independent Boundaries Commission to analyse the impact that reintroducing the role will have on voter equity, and requested its findings be presented to the Assembly before any legislative amendments are lodged.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT Deputy Mezec’s amendment with 19 votes for, 25 votes against and two abstentions.
Skip to 2 hours into the Wednesday morning recording to watch the start of the debate.
Go to the start of the Wednesday afternoon recording to watch the continuation of this debate.
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators – fourth amendment
Deputy Kristina Moore proposed an amendment to the proposition which sought to replace nine Deputy roles with seven Senator roles, therefore reducing the number of Members within the States Assembly to 47. The amendment also proposed that those elected to the role of Senator should form the entire Council of Ministers.
The States Assembly voted on Deputy Moore’s amendment in parts:
Part A - The States Assembly voted to REJECT the amendment which called for seven Senators rather than nine with eight votes for, 36 votes against, and no abstentions.
Part B – Which requested that the salaries saved from reducing the number of Members by distributed among the Senators fell away due to the rejection of Part A.
Part C - The States Assembly voted to REJECT the amendment that Senators form the entire Council of Ministers, with three votes for, 42 votes against and no abstentions.
Skip to 40 minutes into the Wednesday afternoon recording to watch the start of the debate.
P.2 Re-instatement of Senators – fifth amendment
Deputy Montfort Tadier proposed an amendment to the proposition which requested a separate election be held for Senators, and that it be done so in advance of the nomination deadline for candidates wishing to stand for either the office of Deputy or Connétable. It also proposed that any amendments be brought forward in time for the 2030 election.
Under Standing Orders, the amendment will require a minimum of 25 votes for if it is to be adopted.
The States Assembly voted to REJECT the Deputy’s amendment with 22 votes for, 24 votes against and no abstentions.
Skip to one hour and 45 minutes into the Wednesday afternoon recording to watch the start of the debate.
Adjournment
The States Assembly then adjourned and will reconvene at 9:30am tomorrow, Thursday 20 March 2025, with the continuation of the debate on the reinstatement of Senators.
