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STATES OF JERSEY
PROPOSED COMMON STRATEGIC POLICY 2018–22 (P.110/2018): FOURTH AMENDMENT
Lodged au Greffe on 20th November 2018 by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel
STATES GREFFE
2018 P.110 Amd.(4)
PROPOSED COMMON STRATEGIC POLICY 2018–22 (P.110/2018): FOURTH AMENDMENT
____________
PAGE 2 –
After the words "Appendix to this Proposition" insert the words ", except that a sixth Strategic Priority should be added as follows –
"Nurturing a Diverse and Inclusive Society
We will do this by ensuring that everyone in our community is valued and is able to contribute their skills and abilities.
Why this is a shared priority
We want our Island to be a place where everyone in our society is viewed as equal, where everyone contributes and everyone is valued. We want to celebrate the diversity within our community and ensure that there are no boundaries or obstacles to anyone.
We are a diverse community made up of different nationalities, ages and genders. Sometimes these differences act as barriers to us participating in society. As a Government, we want to do all we can to remove the barriers and promote inclusion and equal opportunity for all.
This might be through greater emphasis on building inclusive residential developments, encouraging and fostering greater diversity in boardrooms, or ensuring that older people or those with disabilities are able to participate fully in society.
A community that does not embrace diversity risks being fractured and its minority groups being disadvantaged. The social and economic impacts on society are huge.
Where we need to focus our efforts
The Disability Strategy was published in 2017 and sets out 5 priorities. We will build on the initial work to implement the Disability Strategy, supporting the short-term actions and identifying other areas where we can promote the interests of people living with disability.
We will place more emphasis on ensuring that residential developments are built with inclusive communities and inter-generational living in mind; for example, by ensuring that housing developments contain a mix of first- time buyer and over-55 homes. Older people, particularly after retirement, are able to contribute so much to society. More inter-generational living will help to foster diverse communities living side by side with each other.
It is recognised that in Jersey, as with many other jurisdictions, there is a problem with diversity at the very top of most organisations. We will consider how we can encourage more diversity across companies, charities and the public sector, particularly focusing on boardroom diversity. This will start with a focus on greater diversity at the top levels of the Public Sector and the States-owned subsidiary companies.
The twin challenges of Brexit and the need to manage our population levels have the potential to adversely impact on immigrant communities within the Island. We will ensure that government policies in these areas fully consider the impact on social inclusion and diversity.
What we will achieve
As a result of our actions during this term of office we will –
- implement the Disability Strategy
- ensure that new residential developments are planned with inclusive communities in mind
- promote greater diversity within companies, other organisations and the public sector, and across their leadership
- ensure that, where appropriate, all parts of Jersey's community are consulted with when changes to Government Policy are proposed
- support the aims of the Diversity Forum to ensure a more diverse and inclusive States Assembly and its bodies."."
CORPORATE SERVICES SCRUTINY PANEL
Note: After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –
THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion
in accordance with Article 18(2)(e) of the States of Jersey Law 2005, to approve the statement of the Common Strategic Policy of the Council of Ministers as set out in the Appendix to this Proposition, except that a sixth Strategic Priority should be added as follows –
"Nurturing a Diverse and Inclusive Society
We will do this by ensuring that everyone in our community is valued and is able to contribute their skills and abilities.
Why this is a shared priority
We want our Island to be a place where everyone in our society is viewed as equal, where everyone contributes and everyone is valued. We want to celebrate the diversity within our community and ensure that there are no boundaries or obstacles to anyone.
We are a diverse community made up of different nationalities, ages and genders. Sometimes these differences act as barriers to us participating in society. As a Government, we want to do all we can to remove the barriers and promote inclusion and equal opportunity for all.
This might be through greater emphasis on building inclusive residential developments, encouraging and fostering greater diversity
in boardrooms, or ensuring that older people or those with disabilities are able to participate fully in society.
A community that does not embrace diversity risks being fractured and its minority groups being disadvantaged. The social and economic impacts on society are huge.
Where we need to focus our efforts
The Disability Strategy was published in 2017 and sets out 5 priorities. We will build on the initial work to implement the Disability Strategy, supporting the short-term actions and identifying other areas where we can promote the interests of people living with disability.
We will place more emphasis on ensuring that residential developments are built with inclusive communities and inter-generational living in mind; for example, by ensuring that housing developments contain a mix of first-time buyer and over-55 homes. Older people, particularly after retirement, are able to contribute so much to society. More inter- generational living will help to foster diverse communities living side by side with each other.
It is recognised that in Jersey, as with many other jurisdictions, there is a problem with diversity at the very top of most organisations. We will consider how we can encourage more diversity across companies, charities and the public sector, particularly focusing on boardroom diversity. This will start with a focus on greater diversity at the top levels of the Public Sector and the States-owned subsidiary companies.
The twin challenges of Brexit and the need to manage our population levels have the potential to adversely impact on immigrant communities within the Island. We will ensure that government policies in these areas fully consider the impact on social inclusion and diversity.
What we will achieve
As a result of our actions during this term of office we will –
- implement the Disability Strategy
- ensure that new residential developments are planned with inclusive communities in mind
- promote greater diversity within companies, other organisations and the public sector, and across their leadership
- ensure that, where appropriate, all parts of Jersey's community are consulted with when changes to Government Policy are proposed
- support the aims of the Diversity Forum to ensure a more diverse and inclusive States Assembly and its bodies.".
REPORT
The purpose of this amendment is to place greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion within the Common Strategic Policy proposed by the Council of Ministers.
In reviewing the Common Strategic Policy, we were concerned at the absence of any references to diversity. We consider that encouraging diversity is vitally important for the general well-being of Islanders and social structure of our community, and should be included within the Government's strategic priorities. A diverse and equal community is also more productive, which will benefit our economy.
We were also struck by the absence of reference to promoting the interests of disabled Islanders, older people and other vulnerable groups (with the exception of one reference to the Disability Strategy within the fourth priority).
The amendment also seeks to focus attention on boardroom diversity. In the 2017 States of Jersey accounts, it was reported that approximately 87% of directors are male. It is also a fact that all of the 8 most senior civil servants in the States are male. This gender imbalance is repeated across the States' subsidiary companies. A similar imbalance exists in most private sector boards. We would like to see the Government take more action to tackle this.
The amendment largely speaks for itself. There is much the Government can do to nurture a diverse and inclusive community, and we believe that this should be included as one of its main priorities.
Financial and manpower implications
There are no additional financial or manpower implications for the States arising from the adoption of this amendment.