States Minutes 11th June 1985

THE STATES assembled on Tuesday, 11th June, 1985 at 10.15 a.m. under the Presidency of the Bailiff ,

Sir Frank Ereaut.

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All members were present with the exception of –

Senator Jane Patricia Sandeman – ill.

Senator Peter Geoffrey Kevitt Manton – out of the Island.

John Nicolle Le Fondré, Deputy of St. Lawrence – out of the Island.

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Prayers ____________

Visit of House of Commons Select Committee concerning drug misuse in the United Kingdom. Statement by Bailiff .

"A House of Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs has for some time been inquiring into the extent of drug misuse in the United Kingdom, with particular reference to hard drugs. Their terms of reference include making recommendations to the House of Commons for preventing and controlling the abuse of hard drugs, and they have already produced an interim report.

Because the problem of drug abuse and drug trafficking is an international problem, the members of this Select Committee are particularly looking into four areas: the political aspects of joint government  co-operation;  the  effectiveness  of  intelligence- gathering within and outside the United Kingdom; co-operation between the United Kingdom police forces and the customs and excise  service  and  their  counterparts  outside  the  United Kingdom; and the criminal law relating to profits from drug crimes.

135   Price : 50p

In pursuance of their inquiries, the members of the Select Committee have already made fact-finding visits to the United States and to the Netherlands.

As part of that series of fact-finding visits, the Committee recently indicated, through the Home Office, that they would be grateful for the opportunity to visit the Channel Islands for similar purposes.

Having consulted the Presidents of the Finance and Economics Committee and the Defence Committee, I was glad to extend an invitation  to  the  Select  Committee  to  visit Jersey  early next month,  and last week the Committee gratefully accepted the invitation.

Having visited Guernsey, six members of the Committee will be arriving in Jersey on the evening of 2nd July and will be here throughout 3rd July.

They have expressed a wish to meet some members of the States, police and customs officers, and some bankers, accountants and advocates. A programme is being drawn up to enable such meetings to take place.

I am sure that the House will agree that Jersey should do everything it properly can to co-operate in combatting this very serious international problem."

Fort Regent: further development proposals (P.45/85) – Establishment Committee Comments.P.57/85.

The Establishment Committee by Act dated 3rd June, 1985, presented to the States its comments on the further development proposals at Fort Regent.

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

Prison: extension to Segregation Block (P.54/85) – Finance and Economics Committee Comments. P.58/85.

The Finance and Economics Committee by Act dated 3rd June, 1985, presented to the States its Comments on the proposed extension to the Segregation Block at the Prison.

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

Matters lodged.

The following subjects were lodged "au Greffe" –

1. Public Works Committee: capital projects for 1986. P.59/85.

Presented by the Public Works Committee.

2. Resources Recovery Board: works progress and capital estimates for 1986. P.60/85.

Presented by the Resources Recovery Board.

3. Public Health Committee: capital projects for 1986. P.61/85.

Presented by the Public Health Committee.

4. Les Quennevais Playing Fields: Phase III development. P.62/85.

Presented by the Education Committee.

5. Primary Schools: improvements. P.63/85. Presented by the Education Committee.
6. Hautlieu School: improvements. P.64/85. Presented by the Education Committee.
7. Housing Committee: development proposals for 1986. P.65/85.

Presented by the Housing Committee.

8. Telecommunications: additional submarine cable and replacement emergency microwave link. P.66/85. Presented by the Telecommunications Board.

THE STATES decided to take the abovementioned subjects into consideration on 25th June, 1985.

Arrangement of Public Business – Adjournment, 25th June.

THE STATES decided that, if at the meeting to be held on 25th June, 1985, discussion of any matter of which notice had been given for that day had not been completed or commenced, the Meeting would be adjourned until 10.15 a.m. on Wednesday, 26th June, 1985.

Draft Bankers' Books Evidence (Jersey) Law, 198 . P.56/85.

THE STATES acceded to the request of the President of the Legislation Committee that the draft Bankers' Books Evidence (Jersey) Law, 198 (lodged on 4th June, 1985) be considered as the first of the items already set down for debate on 18th June, 1985.

Resources Recovery Board: Stores dispute. Statement.

The President of the Resources Recovery Board made a Statement in the following terms –

1. Members will be aware that unofficial industrial action has taken place at the Board's works since last Friday morning. I regard it as my responsibility to take this opportunity to report to the Members of the States that unofficial industrial action continues and to set out the background to the dispute.
2. The Resources Recovery Board operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year providing a vital service in dealing with the Island's sewage and solid wastes. In order to provide this service, key staff must be available at all times. During normal working hours, there is clearly no problem here. However, for the remainder of the time (at least 130 hours per week including night time, weekends, and all bank holidays) key staff, drawn from technical management and manual worker employees, provide a rostered standby service to deal with emergencies of all kinds. (Emergencies range from an overflowing private drainage system, to a plant failure at Bellozanne, or even major flooding anywhere in the Island). Staff standing-by outside of normal working hours in accordance with the standby roster are required to be immediately available in the event of a call requiring their attendance. Manual worker employees allocated to the roster receive an allowance for the requirement to standby; and when called out to deal with an emergency receive a further payment for the hours worked in accordance with the Manual Worker Joint Council Agreement which guarantees a minimum payment of 4 hours at premium rates (that is at least 6 to 8 hours pay irrespective of the length of time called out).

3. Many manual worker employees are not required by the Board to participate in a standby roster because of a less frequent demand for the services outside of working hours. If such employees are asked to attend for duty outside normal working hours, they are compensated in accordance with the terms of the Joint Council Call-Out Agreement described above. These employees are not obliged to standby at home, nor are they obliged to attend for work outside of normal working hours when requested.
4. The Board is able to meet the Island's needs by ensuring that technical management is available to it at all times during the year, both within and outside of normal working hours.
5. The present dispute arises out of a claim by manual workers working in the Stores (4 employees) to be put on a standby roster. In view of the extremely infrequent need for Storemen's attendance outside of normal working hours, the Board does not consider that it is either necessary or desirable to have such an arrangement. For example, in 1982, there were only three calls for Stores' personnel; in 1983, there were four; and in 1984 there were eight. Because only two of the Storemen possess the necessary skills to participate on a roster, the cost per man would exceed £700 per annum in addition to the call out payments they would receive as they do at present. The approximate cost of a Stores call out, for whatever duration up to four hours, would increase from the current cost of £21 to nearly £500 per call, using the 1982 incidence of calls. This is clearly not acceptable.

6. Nevertheless the Board takes the view that a roster of employees in selective areas prepared to turn out, albeit infrequently, in times of emergency, is a worthwhile facility. As a consideration for being included on such a roster, the Stores personnel who would take part in the arrangement have been offered reimbursement of their telephone rentals. This proposal was put in writing to the Shop Steward representing the Board's Stores personnel (himself a chargehand Storemen) on June 6th. The Stores employees responded by stopping work on June 7th from the beginning of the working day. For two working days they have picketed the Stores and today they are picketing the main entrance, at the same time refusing to follow procedures for resolving disputes set out in the Manual Workers' Joint Council Agreement. These Council procedures provide that when a group of employees have a grievance or are in dispute with management, they should refer the matter to the Departmental Chief Officer in the first instance, and if they are not satisfied with his response, they should refer the issue to the Employing Committee. If agreement

is not reached at this stage, then the Agreement states that the dispute should be referred to the Joint Secretaries of the Manual Workers' Joint Council, who will attempt to resolve the matter prior to referring it to the Disputes Committee of the Council. The Agreement specifically rules out all industrial action of any kind pending the outcome of this Procedure.

7. The Board is very concerned that industrial action is taking place without any regard to the Disputes Procedure laid down by Joint Council. I am resolute in refusing to negotiate in this matter until there is a return to normal working and the Disputes Procedure is complied with. If picketing continues it is inevitable that inconvenience will be caused to the public and hardship to members of the Board's staff which I very much regret."

Establishment Committee: succession of Chief Executive Officer of the States Personnel Department. Statement.

The President of the Establishment Committee made a Statement in the following terms –

"I believe that the House will be glad to be made aware of the intentions of my Committee in regard to the succession to Mr. Tobias as Chief Executive Officer of the States Personnel Department.

Members will recall that when the previous holder of this post retired on medical grounds in 1983, the Establishment Committee of the day was unable to identify any member of the public service whom it believed to be qualified to fill this exacting post in the circumstances in which it had become vacant. It accordingly sought the assistance of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom who agreed to help the Island by making available to us on secondment a suitably qualified and experienced member of the U.K. Civil Service. Mr. Tobias took up his duties in September 1983. I am glad to have this opportunity of expressing publicly my Committee's gratitude for and appreciation of the judgement, professionalism and indefatigable capacity for work with which Mr. Tobias is discharging his duties.

It was the declared intention of the previous Committee that steps would be taken during the period of Mr. Tobias' service in the Island to prepare for his succession from within the ranks of the Jersey Civil Service. On taking up office my Committee realised that this was one of the matters calling for our immediate attention. We have now come to our conclusions and I am glad to tell the House that we are satisfied that a suitable replacement for Mr. Tobias can be found within the ranks of the Jersey Civil Service. Accordingly an advertisement inviting applications in the usual form will be published within the next few days.

Bingham Court Phase II, St. Helier : approval of drawings. P.138/84.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Housing Committee –

1. approved Drawings Nos. 1464/50,/51,/52,/53, /54, /55, /56 and /57 showing the construction of seven, one-bedroomed and five, two-bedroomed units of accommodation at Bingham Court Phase II, St. Helier ;
2. authorised the Greffier of the States to sign the said Drawings on behalf of the States.

La Collette Land Reclamation Area: freight handling development Phase II. P.47/85.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Harbours and Airport Committee, approved in principle the implementation of Phase II of the development of the freight handling area to the south of Victoria Pier in the La Collette Land Reclamation area.

Airport Playing Fields: transfer of administration. P.48/85.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Harbours and Airport Committee, approved the transfer of the administration of the playing field to the south of the Airport from that Committee to the Education Committee, subject to the Education Committee undertaking to return the administration of the field to the Harbours and Airport Committee should it be required for development in the future in connexion with Airport requirements.

THE STATES rose at 11.45 a.m.

R.S. GRAY, Deputy Greffier of the States.