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Common Strategic Policy (P.98/2022): seventh amendment (P.98/2022 Amd.(7)) – amendment

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STATES OF JERSEY

COMMON STRATEGIC POLICY (P.98/2022): SEVENTH AMENDMENT (P.98/2022 AMD.(7) – AMENDMENT

Lodged au Greffe on 15th November 2022 by the Council of Ministers

Earliest date for debate: 22nd November 2022

STATES GREFFE

2022  P.98 Amd.(7) Amd.

COMMON STRATEGIC POLICY (P.98/2022): SEVENTH AMENDMENT

(P.98/2022 AMD.(7)) AMENDMENT

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1  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH 1 –

For the word "ensure" substitute the words "continue to work towards ensuring".

 COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Note:  After this amendment, the amendment 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 report of this Proposition, except that on page 15 of the report in the "Community"  section  after  the  second  paragraph,  should  be  inserted  the following new paragraph –

"We will continue to work towards ensuring that the services and facilities provided  by  the  Government  are  accessible  and  that  the  government departments have access and inclusion plans in place so that all people are treated equitably."

Note:  After the amendment, as amended by 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 report of this Proposition, except that on page 15 of the report in the "Community"  section  after  the  second  paragraph,  should  be  inserted  the following new paragraph –

"We will continue to work towards ensuring that the services and facilities provided  by  the  Government  are  accessible  and  that  the  government departments have access and inclusion plans in place so that all people are treated equitably."

REPORT

Ministers agree that this is an important area and welcome this amendment.

All residents should be able to access our public services and facilities, and active measures are needed to deliver improvements.

A series of working groups to address the issues raised are included in the Disability Strategy, and support the ongoing work led by the Disability and Inclusion Team.

This includes working in partnership with "Liberate" to complete accessibility audits of public buildings with recommendations to improve access for islanders.

To date, 85 audits have been completed with further audits to be prioritised across the Government estate.

The Disability & Inclusion team will continue to work with Government departments and support reasonable adjustments being made to services. This includes ongoing work around accessible communications too, as part of the disability strategy, alongside related work in the "information and engagement improvement report" which will be published shortly.

The  team  has  supported the setting up  and progress  of  the disability  network  to encourage wider and diverse participation in decision making processes that affect their working environments.

The  team  and  other  stakeholders  have  been  consulted  in  the  design  of  the  new Government building to ensure it is accessible.

The engagement of dDeaf partnership Board, Earsay and the deaf society, in addition to a range of other stakeholders, was critical to the approach of exploring a long-term sustainable solution for this community.

Utilising the independent recommendations of the Royal Association for Deaf people, three areas are being focussed on: -

Improving effectiveness and efficiency of representation of the dDeaf and hard of hearing community

Enhancing accessibility and inclusiveness of public services

Increasing the levels of independence and empowerment of individuals to improve their quality of life

Ministers also support the development of practicable access and inclusion plans across Government to ensure that services and facilities are accessible.

The Disability and Inclusion Team work with over 130 stakeholders as well as Disabled Islanders in partnership with Enable Jersey, and will use this framework to provide expert advice to coproduce improvements to services and facilities across Government.

The small amendment to the amendment proposed by the Council of Minister is intended to recognise the work that is taking place already, and that, especially in relation to the physical nature of some of our buildings, ongoing work that will need to

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P.98/2022 Amd.(7) Amd.

develop urgently, but over time. Indeed, the cost of developing and implementing access and inclusion plans is unknown and will not be known until full audits have been completed across Government.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no additional financial implications arising from this Amendment to the Amendment.