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Property and Infrastructure Regeneration: the States of Jersey Development Company Limited (P.73/2010) – amendment.

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STATES OF JERSEY

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PROPERTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE REGENERATION: THE STATES OF JERSEY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED (P.73/2010) – AMENDMENT

Lodged au Greffe on 25th June 2010 by Senator B.E. Shenton

STATES GREFFE

2010   Price code: A  P.73 Amd.

PROPERTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE REGENERATION: THE STATES OF JERSEY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED (P.73/2010) – AMENDMENT

PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (a) –

After the words "as set out in paragraphs 3–12 of the Report of the Council of Ministers dated 7th June 2010" insert the words –

"except that –

  1. In  paragraph 7  (Regeneration  Steering  Group),  in  the  section headed Composition' on page 11, for the words "The Connétable of St. Helier " substitute the words "A member of the States elected by the Assembly with a St. Helier mandate (namely a Senator, the Connétable of St. Helier or a St. Helier Deputy )".
  2. In  paragraph 7  (Regeneration  Steering  Group),  in  the  section headed  Composition'  on  page 11,  for  the  words  "A  co-opted Connétable for a Parish in which a major regeneration scheme is taking place" substitute the words "A member of the States elected by the Assembly".

SENATOR B.E. SHENTON

Page - 3

P.73/2010 Amd.

REPORT

I don't know why the Council of Ministers believe that the Constables specifically deserve to be on the Steering Group, and Deputies and Senators do not. If town Deputies,  for  example,  do  not  have  the  ability  to  represent  their  Parish  on  the Regeneration Steering Group it opens to question their overall worth. Similarly, why should the Constable of a Parish where a major regeneration scheme takes place take preference over the local Deputy , or a Senator with an Island-wide mandate? I have already made clear that I find the unofficial attendance of the Chairman of the Comité des Connétable s at Council of Ministers' meetings undemocratic, and this Proposition cements the notion of Council of Ministers' nepotism.

The inclusion of the Connétable of St. Helier may seem logical, but given his very poor attendance record at bodies such as this, I am not convinced that the interests of the residents of St. Helier were not better served by a hard-working Parish Deputy .

It cannot even be argued that the Constable has a stronger mandate to represent. If you look at the comparison of the Connétable with myself at the last election for example, Connétable Simon Crowcroft polled 2,317 votes whilst I polled 2,901 in St. Helier – 25% more votes – and I did not even top the poll! So who has a stronger mandate to represent the views of the Parish? Why exclude everyone with a St. Helier mandate in favour of the Constable? What is so special about this class of political representative?

It is about time that the Council of Ministers stopped treating Deputies as second-class citizens, the Constables as a political coalition, and about time the Constables realised that they do not deserve special treatment, or that they somehow have a superior understanding  of  Parishioners'  interests.  No-one  has  a  monopoly  on  Parish representation.

Financial and manpower implications

There  are  no  financial  or  manpower  implications  for  the  States  arising  from  the adoption of this proposition.

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P.73/2010 Amd.