States Minutes 8th February 1983

THE STATES assembled on Tuesday, 8th February, 1983 at 10.15 a.m. under the Presidency of the Bailiff , Sir Frank Ereaut.

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His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, General Sir Peter Whiteley, G.C.B., O.B.E., was present.

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All members were present with the exception of –

Senator John Clark Averty – absent.

Senator Bernard Thomas Binnington – out of the Island. Robin Ernest Richard Rumboll, Deputy of St. Helier – out of the Island.

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Prayers read by Greffier. _____

Connétable of St. Helier – welcome.

The Bailiff , on behalf of Members of the States, welcomed to the  Assembly  the  newly  appointed   Connétable  of   St. Helier , Mr. Fred Philip Webber Clarke.

Defence Committee – appointment of member.

THE  STATES  appointed  Mr. Fred  Philip  Weber  Clarke, Connétable of St. Helier , as a member of the Defence Committee in the place of the former Connétable of St. Helier , Mr. Peter Gorton Baker.

Official Analyst Report 1981. R.C.4/83.

The Finance and Economics Committee by Act dated 27th January, 1983, presented to the States the Report of the Official Analyst for 1981.

THE STATES ordered that the said Report be printed and distributed.

29  [ Price : 35p.]

Cottage Homes Committee Report 1982. R.C.5/83.

The Cottage Homes Committee by Act dated 28th January, 1983, presented to the States the Report of the Cottage Homes Committee for 1982.

THE STATES ordered that the said Report be printed and distributed.

Matters lodged.

The following subjects were lodged "au Greffe" –

1. Draft Trusts (Jersey) Law, 198 . P.18/83. Presented by the Finance and Economics Committee.
2. Waterworks Company: amendment of Articles. P.19/83.

Presented by the Finance and Economics Committee. The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 22nd February, 1983.

Essentially employed persons – permits granted 1981/82. Question and answer.

Deputy Maurice Clement Buesnel of St. Helier asked Senator Jane Patricia Sandeman, President of the Housing Committee, the following question –

"Would the President kindly inform the House of the numbers of permits granted to essentially employed persons in the years 1981 and 1982?"

The President of the Housing Committee replied as follows –

"The following figures include all new essential employees but also include a number who will have replaced other essential employees who have left the Island. At the present time the Committee does not have information on all essential employees who leave the Island and I cannot give net additional figures.

Consents  issued  to  existing  essential  employees  who merely  change  their  accommodation  have  not  been included.

The figures are –

1981  1982 Totals  79  91

To make the figures more meaningful, the breakdown by employment categories is as follows –

1981  1982

Medical (doctors,

nurses,

pharmacists, etc.  28  25 Finance Sector  15  19 Teachers  12  12 States  3  2 Airlines  1  1 Miscellaneous  20  32

For comparative purposes, Members might like to know that the total number of such consents issued in 1978 was 166. An exercise carried out at that time suggested that only about 30% of the consents related to net additional essential employees.

Following  the  computerisation  of  the  Housing  Law records, more detailed information should be available in a few months' time."

Housing  (General  Provisions)  (Jersey)  Regulations,  1970,  as amended. Statement.

The President of the Housing Committee made a statement in the following terms –

"Regulation 5(1)(b),  as  amended,  exempts  from  the provisions of Part III of the Law, a lease, not being a registered contract of lease, of a dwelling, or part of a dwelling, or a flat, where the lessee is sixteen years of age or over, and,

1. was born in the Island and has been ordinarily resident in the Island for a period of at least ten years; or
2. has been resident in the Island continuously for a period of at least ten years immediately preceding the date of the grant of the lease, such period of residence beginning on or before the 1st day of January, 1980;

and in both cases, where the dwelling, part of the dwelling or flat is to be occupied by the lessee and his immediate family.

Following from a recent judgement of the Royal Court, Her Majesty's Attorney General has advised the Committee that it would be lawful for such a qualified person to lease a dwelling or flat and, having furnished it, to permit it to be occupied by non-residentially qualified persons as his or her guests. Indeed, such a case occurred recently.

My Committee has instructed the Law Draftsman to prepare an amendment to the Regulations to rectify the situation. In the normal way, a period of about three weeks elapses between Regulations being lodged' and the date upon which they come into force. In the present case, such a delay would permit a number of people to take advantage of that might be described as the loophole' and I therefore give notice that I will be asking the House to deem the amending Regulations to have come into effect today, the 8th February, 1983."

Road Traffic legislation: amendments.

THE STATES, having accepted an amendment of Deputy Terence John Le Main of St. Helier that in paragraph (a) of his Proposition to amend Road Traffic legislation, for the figure "12" there should be substituted the figure "24", then adopted an amendment of the Defence Committee that in the said paragraph for the words "Article 8 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law, 1956, as amended", there should be substituted the words "the relevant legislation" and after the words "convicted of" there should be added the word "knowingly".

THE STATES adopted paragraph (a) of the Proposition, as amended, and charged the Defence Committee to present to the States an amendment to the relevant legislation to provide that any person convicted of knowingly driving a motor vehicle whilst not in possession of insurance cover must be disqualified from holding a driving licence for a period of not less than 24 months.

Consideration of paragraph (b) was deferred to a later date. Retirement of Mr. E. Watson, Connétable of St. Clement .

The Bailiff , on behalf of the States, thanked Mr. Ernest Watson, on his retirement as Connétable of St. Clement , for his services to the Island over the past fifteen years and wished him a long and happy retirement.

Economic Policies Report – Committee of the Whole House.

THE STATES, on the Proposition of the President of the Policy Advisory Committee, resolved into a Committee of the Whole House in order to discuss the Report of the Committee on Economic Policies (P.12/83).

The Committee rose at 6.15 p.m.

E.J.M. POTTER, Greffier of the States.