Proposed Government Plan 2024-2027 (P.72/2023): thirteenth amendment (P.72/2023 Amd.(13)) – amendment.

STATES OF JERSEY

PROPOSED GOVERNMENT PLAN 2024- 2027 (P.72/2023): THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT (P.72/2023 AMD.(13)) – AMENDMENT

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS TASKFORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Lodged au Greffe on 5th December 2023 by the Council of Ministers

STATES GREFFE

2023  P.72 Amd.(13).Amd.(re-issue)

PROPOSED GOVERNMENT PLAN 2024-2027 (P.72/2023): THIRTEENTH

AMENDMENT (P.72/2023 AMD.(13)) – AMENDMENT

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In  proposed  new  paragraph  (l)  substitute  the  words  "alongside  all  future Government Plans" with "in alignment with the Building a Safer Community Framework,", and substitute the word "preventing" with "addressing".

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In proposed new paragraph (m) after the words "to agree that" substitute the words "future Government Plan for this States Assembly must give reference to how they" with " the annual report specified in paragraph (l) must identify how measures outlined in the relevant Government Plan"

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Note:  After this amendment, the amendment would read as follows –

After  paragraph  (k),  insert  the  following  new  paragraphs  and  re-designate  the subsequent paragraph accordingly –

(l)  to commit to the annual publication of a report, in alignment with the Building  a  Safer  Community  Framework,  to  provide  updates  on  the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Report of the Taskforce on Violence Against Women and Girls and the impact they have had on addressing violence against women and girls and improving gender equality  in  Jersey,  and  include  the  publication  of  a  timeline  of  the Government of Jersey's work programme on these areas for the following year;"

(m)  to agree that the annual report specified in paragraph (l) must identify how measures outlined in the relevant Government Plan apply to improving gender equality in Jersey, with a focus on establishing an intersectional approach to all future strategies and other work by the Government of Jersey to address Violence Against Women and Girls, as outlined in Recommendation 2 of the report by the Taskforce on Violence Against Women and Girls; and"

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to receive the Government Plan 2024 – 2027 specified in Article 9(1) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 ("the Law") and specifically –

1. to approve the estimate of total States income to be paid into the Consolidated Fund in 2024 as set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 1 to the Report, which is inclusive of the proposed taxation and impôts duties changes outlined in the Government Plan, in line with Article 9(2)(a) of the Law;
2. to refer to their Act dated 30th September 2016 and to approve the application of existing resources for work on the development of user pays' charges in relation to all aspects of waste, including commercial and domestic liquid and solid waste;
3. to approve the proposed Changes to Approval for financing/borrowing for 2024, as shown in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 2 to the Report, which may be obtained by the Minister for Treasury and Resources, as and when required, in line with Article 9 (2)(c) of the Law, of up to those revised approvals;
4. to approve the extension of the use of the existing Revolving Credit Facility to include the provision of funds that would otherwise be implemented through bank overdraft or bank overdraft facilities under Article 26 (1)(a) of the Law, should  they  be  needed,  subject  to  the  limits  outlined  in  that  article;
5. to approve the transfers from one States fund to another for 2024 of up to and including the amounts set in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 3 in line with Article 9(2)(b) of the Law;
6. to approve a transfer from the Consolidated Fund to the Stabilisation Fund in 2024 of up to £25 million, subject to a decision of the Minister for Treasury and Resources based on the availability of funds in the Consolidated Fund as at 31 December 2023 in excess of the estimates provided in this plan, or from budgeted underspends identified before 31 December 2024;
7. to approve each major project that is to be started or continued in 2024 and the total cost of each such project and any amendments to the proposed total cost of a major project under a previously approved Government Plan, in line with Article 9(2)(d), (e) and (f) of the Law and as set out in Appendix 2 - Summary Table 4 to the Report;
8. to approve the proposed amount to be appropriated from the Consolidated Fund for 2024, for each Head of Expenditure, being gross expenditure less estimated income (if any), in line with Articles 9(2)(g), 10(1) and 10(2) of the Law, and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Tables 5(i) and (ii) of the Report;
9. to  approve  the  estimated  income,  being  estimated  gross  income  less expenditure, that each States trading operation will pay into its trading fund in 2024 in line with Article 9(2)(h) of the Law and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 6 to the Report;
10. to approve the proposed amount to be appropriated from each States trading operation's trading fund for 2024 for each head of expenditure in line with

Article 9(2)(i) of the Law and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 7 to the Report;

11. to approve the estimated income and expenditure proposals for the Climate Emergency Fund for 2024 as set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 8 to the Report; and
12. to commit to the annual publication of a report, in alignment with the Building a Safer Community Framework, to provide updates on the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Report of the Taskforce on Violence Against Women and Girls and the impact they have had on preventing violenceagainst women and girls and improving gender equality in Jersey, and includethe publication of a timeline of the Government of Jersey's work programme on these areas for the following year;"
13. to agree that the annual report specified in paragraph (l) must identify howmeasures outlined in the relevant Government Plan apply to improving genderequality in Jersey, with a focus on establishing an intersectional approach to allfuture  strategies  and  other  work  by  the  Government  of  Jersey  to  addressViolence Against Women and Girls, as outlined in Recommendation 2 of thereport by the Taskforce on Violence Against Women and Girls; and"

(l)  to approve, in accordance with Article 9(1) of the Law, the Government Plan 2024-2027, as set out at Appendix 3 to the Report.

REPORT

The Council of Ministers wholeheartedly agrees with the Connétable 's desire to ensure regular reporting is made on the progress of work addressing Violence Against Women and Girls. The Council of Ministers is also entirely supportive of the proposal that future planned actions by government should be considered in light of their effect on gender equality.

However, the Council does not feel that the Government Plan document and associated proposition are the correct vehicles for managing that reporting.

In relation to the proposed insertion of paragraph (l), despite the debate being scheduled for the last sitting of each calendar year, the Government Plan must be lodged 12 weeks in advance. With the additional work required in advance of lodging this will mean that any reporting on progress or activity for a full calendar year would be prepared in August/September of the year and would potentially be out of date at the time of consideration.

In relation to the proposed insertion of paragraph (m), while the Government Plan as a document runs to over 100 pages, and is attached as an accompanying report to the proposition to add essential detail, the proposition itself (the amendable' component), does not offer a sufficient level of detail or nuance to allow it to be effectively amended to revise priorities in the manner suggested in the report to the amendment.

The Council proposes this alternative approach, which would see an annual report published  under  the  auspices  of  the  forthcoming  Building  a  Safer  Community Framework,  that  both  outlines  the  progress  that  has  been  made  towards  the implementation of the Taskforce recommendations and considers the effects on gender equality of proposals in the detailed Government Plan document.

The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs intends to publish the new Building a Safer Community Framework, a refresh of the Government's previous Building a Safer Society  Strategy  (BASS)  by  the  end  of  2023.  This  will  provide  an  overarching framework  to  bring  together  various  strategies  and  work  programmes  to  address community safety.

It  is  intended  that  BASC  will  provide  an  enduring  framework  that  becomes  the cornerstone of an integrated, evidence-based approach to strategy development and service delivery in Jersey. The governance arrangements for BASC will include an annual review and reporting cycle, to provide an assessment of current and emerging community safety issues and the actions needed to address these.

It is therefore considered that the BASC framework will provide the natural and most appropriate coordinating mechanism for taking forward the necessary work to address the recommendations of the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce.

The Council considers that this is amendment would enhance the proposed reporting arrangements, provide good alignment with other work across the community safety

policy area, and offer a robust and effective way of holding Government to account for its progress in addressing Violence Against Women and Girls.

This  amendment  makes  some  other  minor  changes,  notably  that  the  reference  to reporting on  preventing violence against women and girls' has been changed to addressing' that violence to allow reporting to consider improvements made to address such violence after the fact, for instance by improvements to the justice process.

Financial and staffing implications

Funding has been allocated for the implementation of the VAWG recommendations in 2024, a proportion of which will be allocated to reporting on progress under the business-as-usual activities involved in implementing the VAWG recommendations.

Re-Issue Note

This projet has been re-issued to replace a previous version of the amended words in Part 1 of the amendment to the amendment.