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States Meeting Summary: 28-29 November

States Meeting Summary 28 November

Questions with notice

This week's States Meeting began with States Members' questions with notice.

Skip to page 10 of the Order Paper to find out which questions were asked and watch from 14 minutes into this morning's recording to hear questions with notice in full. 

Questions without notice

States Members then asked the Minister for Social Security, Deputy Elaine Millar, the Minister for Treasury & Resources, Deputy Ian Gorst, and the Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, questions without notice for 15 minutes each.

Skip to 1 hour and 52 minutes into this morning's recording to watch the questions without notice.  

Public Business

Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache requested that the lodging period be reduced to allow his proposed Law, which would repeal provisions of the Planning & Building (Amdt No. 8) (Jersey) Law 2022, to be debated in this States Meeting.

This was defeated with 20 votes for and 26 against.

Draft Public Health and Safety (Rented Dwellings) (Licensing) (Jersey) Regulations 202-

The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Jonathan Renouf proposed new Public Health & Safety Regulations, which will require rented dwellings to be licensed. The Assembly approved the principles of the Regulations in July. This was a continuation of the debate in second reading.

The Minister proposed an amendment to his proposition which updated the definitions of certain terms within the regulations as well as specifying other changes to the original proposition.

Connetable Mike Jackson proposed that the debate be deferred until the Codes of Practice referenced in the proposition, have been published. The States Assembly voted to reject the deferral, with 18 votes for, 26 votes against, and 0 abstentions. The debate, therefore, went ahead.

The Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel proposed two amendments to the Minister's amendment.

The Panel's first amendment would bring lodging houses within the scope of the proposed licensing scheme. This amendment was rejected.

The Panel's second amendment would require social housing providers to obtain a licence under the proposed licensing regime but to exempt them from the associated licence fee. This amendment was also rejected.

The States Assembly voted to approve the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Jonathan Renouf's new Public Health & Safety Regulations, in its third reading, with 37 votes for, 9 votes against, and 1 abstention.

Go to the start of this afternoon's recording  to watch the debate on the Draft Public Health and Safety (Rented Dwellings) (Licensing). The amendments debate starts 45 minutes in.

Reform of the Composition of the States Assembly

Deputy Moz Scott proposed that the number of Deputies in the States Assembly should be reduced and that the office of Senator, elected on an Island-wide basis, should be re-instated in time for the 2026 election, attached to certain conditions.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham proposed an amendment which specified that there should be nine Senators, reducing the number of Deputies in each constituency by one.

Skip to 2 hours 24 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the beginning of the debate, which will continue tomorrow at 09:30am.  

Adjournment

The States Meeting adjourned mid debate,and will recommence at 09:30am on Wednesday 29 November.

Watch tomorrow morning's States Meeting here.

States Meeting Summary 29 November

Public Business

Reform of the Composition of the States Assembly

At the end of Tuesday's States Meeting, Deputy Moz Scott proposed that the number of Deputies in the States Assembly should be reduced and that the office of Senator, elected on an Island-wide basis, should be re-instated in time for the 2026 election, attached to certain conditions.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham proposed an amendment which specified that there should be nine Senators, reducing the number of Deputies in each constituency by one. This amendment was defeated in Wednesday morning's debate, with 15 votes for and 30 against.

The States Assembly voted to reject Deputy Moz Scott's proposition that Senators are reinstated to the Assembly, with 14 votes for, 30 votes against, and 1 abstention.

Watch from the beginning of this morning's recording to watch the rest of the debate in full, or watch from the beginning of this afternoon's debate for the vote.

Draft Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) Regulations

The Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, proposed to amend the Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) Regulations to increase the annual fee paid to the JFSC from £145 to £175 for entities that are administered by fund services/trust company businesses.

Deputy Elaine Millar acted as Rapporteur.

The States Assembly voted to approve the Chief Minister's proposition to amend the Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) Regulations, with 45 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions.

Watch from 9 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the debate in full.

Draft Limited Partnerships (Annual Additional Charge) (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations

The Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, proposed to amend the Limited Partnerships (Annual Additional Charge) Regulations 2012 to increase the annual fee paid to the JFSC from £145 to £175 for limited partnerships administered by a fund services or trust company businesses.

Deputy Elaine Millar acted as Rapporteur.

The States Assembly has voted to approve the Chief Minister's proposition to amend the Limited Partnerships (Annual Additional Charge) Regulations 2012, with 45 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions.

Watch from 15 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the debate in full.

Draft Children (Convention Rights) (Commencement) Jersey Act

The Minister for Children & Education, Deputy Inna Gardiner, proposed an Act which would bring certain provisions of the Children (Convention Rights) Law 2022 (concerning Ministerial, Elected Member and Assembly Body duty-bearers) into force on 1st Jan 2024.

Deputy Louise Doublet acted as Rapporteur.

The States Assembly voted to approve the Minister for Children & Education's proposition to bring certain provisions of the Children (Convention Rights) Law 2022 into force, with 44 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions.

Watch from 19 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the debate in full.

Draft Planning and Building (Conservation Areas) (Jersey) Regulations

The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Jonathan Renouf, proposed regulations which would provide for the allocation of funding to protect and improve the character or appearance of conservation areas.

The States Assembly voted to approve the Minister for the Environment's proposition with 38 votes for, 9 votes against, and 0 abstentions.

Watch from 1 hour and 4 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the debate in full.

Draft Christmas Bonus (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Jersey) Regulations

The Minister for Social Security, Deputy Elaine Millar, proposed to increase the amount of Christmas Bonus payable as a special payment under the Income Support (Jersey) Law 2007 to £114.19. This would come into force on 4 December 2023. 

The States Assembly voted to approve the Minister for Social Security's proposition with 45 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions. 

Watch from 1 hour and 32 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the debate in full.

Minimum Residential Space Standards 

Deputy Tom Coles proposed that the Minister for the Environment should review the minimum standards for residential spaces. Deputy Coles put forward this proposition in parts. These parts requested that the Minister for the Environment should consider:

A) making the minimum standard for a 1-bedroom 2-person apartment the minimum standard for all 1-bedroom apartments by removing the occupancy criteria;

B) removing the minimum standard for a 2-bedroom 3-person occupancy and making 2-bedroom 4-person occupancy the minimum for a 2-bedroom apartment;

C) increasing the minimum standard for gross internal area of both 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom apartments by 10%.

The States Assembly voted to approve Part A by 22 votes for, 20 votes against, and 4 abstentions.

The States Assembly voted to reject Part B by 17 votes for, 24 votes against, and 5 abstentions.

The States Assembly voted to reject Part C by 13 votes for, 27 votes against, and 6 abstentions.

Watch from 1 hour and 36 minutes into this afternoon's recording to watch the debate in full.

Adjournment

The States Meeting adjourned and will recommence at 09:30am on Monday 11 December.