States Minutes 22nd April 1986

THE STATES assembled on Tuesday, 22nd April, 1986 at 10.15 a.m. under the Presidency of the Bailiff ,

Peter Leslie Crill, Esquire, C.B.E. ____________

All members were present with the exception of –

Senator John Le Marquand – ill.

Senator Pierre François Horsfall – absent.

____________

Prayers ____________

H.M. The Queen – 60th Birthday.

The Bailiff informed the House that the following message had been sent to Her Majesty The Queen on her 60th Birthday –

"On the occasion of Your Majesty's 60th Birthday it is with humble duty that I send you on behalf of the Bailiff , the Members of the States of Jersey and the people of Jersey our warmest congratulations and our continued expressions of loyalty and devotion. may we also express the hope that it will not be too long before Your Majesty and His Royal Highness revisit the Island.

William Pillar

Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey."

The following reply had been received –

"I  thank  you,  the   Bailiff ,  the  Members  of  the States of Jersey and the people of Jersey most sincerely for your kind congratulations on my birthday.

Elizabeth R.".

129   Price : £1.00

Bishop of Southampton and Mrs. Cartwright – welcome.

The Bailiff welcomed the Suffragan Bishop of Southampton the Right Reverend David Cartwright and Mrs. Cartwright to the Island.

Liberation Day Thanksgiving Service.

The Bailiff informed the States that a Service of Thanksgiving would be held on Liberation Day, 9th May, in the Royal Square at 10 a.m.

Subordinate legislation tabled.

The following enactments were laid before the States, namely –

1. Post Office (Customs and Excise Provisions) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order, 1986. R & O 7493.
2. Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment No. 12) (Jersey) Order, 1986. R & O 7494.

Island Development Committee: statistical information for 1985. R.C.9.

The Island Development Committee by Act dated 24th March, 1986, presented to the States statistical information for 1985.

THE STATES ordered that the said statistical information be printed and distributed.

Industrial Relations Advisory Service: Report for 1985. R.C.10.

The Industrial Relations Committee by Act dated 7th March, 1986, presented to the States a Report of the Industrial Relations Advisory Service for 1985.

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

Prison Board: Report for 1985. R.C.11.

The Prison Board by Act dated 24th March, 1986, presented to the States the Report of the Board for 1985.

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

Annual Report and Accounts of the States for 1985.

The Finance and Economics Committee by Act dated 1st April, 1986, and in pursuance of Article 21(3) of the Public Finances (Administration) (Jersey) Law, 1967, as amended, presented to the States the Annual Report and Accounts of the States for the financial year ended 31st December, 1985.

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

Matters noted – land transactions.

THE STATES noted Acts of the Finance and Economics Committee dated 7th and 14th April, 1986, showing that in pursuance of Standing Orders relating to certain transactions in land, the Committee had approved –

1. as recommended by the Harbours and Airport Committee, the leasing of five industrial units at La Folie, South Pier, St. Helier , on the basis of a three-year lease with effect from 1st March, 1986at a rate of £2.50 per square foot as follows –

Unit Tenant

One Bernard Amy (1985)

Limited

Two Jersey Marine

Electronics Three W.P. Keating (Marine

Engineer)

Four John Fox (Marine

Engineer)

Five T.B. Electronics

Limited

Area Rent sq.ft. £

1,266 3,165 1,156 2,890 898 2,245 1,524 3,810 878 2,195;

2. as recommended by the Public Works Committee, the ceding free of charge, by the undermentioned owners of the property Newhome, La Route de Beaumont, St. Peter , of 248 square feet of land required in connexion with the completion of a section of the public footpath at the corner of La Route de Beaumont and Rue de L'Eglise between the business premises of the Co-operative Society Limited and those of Stampers, across the front garden of Newhome, subject to the public of the Island being responsible for the accommodation works involved and the payment of all legal costs –

Mr. Edwin Arthur Le Marquand

Mrs. Linda Gillian Steer, née Le Marquand Mr. Harold Philip Le Marquand

Mr. Malcolm Arthur Le Marquand

Mr. Ronald Harry William Le Marquand Mrs. Gillian Linda Barbet, née Le Marquand;

3. as recommended by the Public Works Committee, the acquisition from O'Callaghan Estates Limited of876 square feet of land forming part of the property Kirkstone, Bel Royal, St. Lawrence , required in connexion with the acquisition of the freehold of the land leased for the construction of the bus lay-by between Beaumont and Bel Royal, for the sum of £1,500 plus the payment of the legal costs;

(The Committee rescinded its Act No. 2(a) of 4th February, 1985, which was notified to the States on 12th March, 1985);

4. as recommended by the Public Works Committee, the acquisition from Mr. Malcolm Alexander Campbell MacNeill and Mrs. Mary MacNeill, née MacCormick of1,808 square feet of land at Le Val Lodge, Route des Genets, St. Brelade , required for the formation of a bus lay-by on the south side of Route des Genets, for the sum of £1,012.48, plus the payment of the legal costs.

Matter noted – financial transaction.

THE STATES noted an Act of the Finance and Economics Committee dated 17th February, 1986, showing that in pursuance of Rule 5 of the Public Finances (General) (Jersey) Rules, 1967, as amended, the Committee had noted that the Housing Committee had accepted the lowest of three tenders, namely that submitted by Ernest Farley and Son Limited in the sum of £463,900.00 in a contract period of 48 weeks for the development of Halcyon House, Westhill, St. Helier , to provide States' rental accommodation.

Matters lodged.

The following subject was lodged "au Greffe" –

Le Rondin Farm, Trinity : purchase. P.55/86.

Presented by the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee.

The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 6th May, 1986.

The following subject was lodged on 15th April, 1986 –

Draft Shell-Fish (Underwater Fishing) (Jersey) Regulations, 198 . P.54/86.

Presented by the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee. The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 6th May, 1986.

Draft Public Finances (Administration) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Law, 198 . P.42/86.

THE STATES acceded to the request of the President of the Finance and Economics Committee that the draft Public Finances (Administration) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Law, 198 (lodged on 25th March, 1986) be withdrawn as a revised Bill was being prepared.

Draft Queen's Valley Reservoir (Jersey) Law, 198 . P.36/86.

THE STATES acceded to the request of the President of the Public Works Committee that the draft Queen's Valley Reservoir (Jersey) Law, 198 (lodged on 18th March, 1986 in Second Reading) be considered in Third Reading on 13th May, 1986.

Property Speculation and Monopolies. P.13/86.

THE STATES acceded to the request of Senator Richard Joseph Shenton that the Proposition regarding Property Speculation and Monopolies (lodged on 21st January, 1986) be considered on 6th May, 1986.

Gorey Village Development: exchange of land. P.105/85.

THE STATES acceded to the request of the President of the Island Development Committee that the Proposition regarding the exchange of land in the Gorey Village Development (lodged on 24th September, 1985) be considered on 6th May, 1986.

Fuel Oil prices. Answers.

Deputy John Le Gallais, President of the Resources Recovery Board, replied to questions asked in the House by Senator John Stephen Rothwell on 8th April, 1986, as follows –

"I have no evidence to show that the profit earned by the authorised distributors in the Island is unreasonable. I therefore stand by the opinion expressed in the Report on oil prices.

The Report which the Board presented to the States last year explained how a distributor's income is derived and I can do no better than quote from that Report. Before I do so, however, I would like to remind members who the distributors are –

1. Fuel Supplies (C.I.) Limited – a local company and a member of the Ocean Group of Companies in the United Kingdom who also have interests in coal distribution and shipping. Fuel Supplies market products supplied by Shell U.K. Limited.
2. Petroleum Distributors (Jersey Limited – a local company in the Norman Group and marketing oil supplied by Esso.
3. Channel Oil Marketing (Jersey) Limited – a local company owned by Bardon Hill Leicester, a company with quarry interests in the United Kingdom and also engaged in the distribution of oil supplied by British Petroleum.

The distributors are totally independent companies and are not subsidiaries of the oil suppliers whose products they market. Turning again to the Report, I would like to quote from paragraphs 6 and 7 – The income of the authorised distributors is normally received on a pence per litre basis, these unit costs' having first to be agreed with the supplier. The supplier will have regard to the arrangements applying to his authorised distributors throughout the United Kingdom, and the reasonableness of the costs' of the local distributor will normally be assessed by reference to national standard costings related to distance travelled per tanker, tanker size, size of drop and volume of business. The costs' recovery will also allow for what the oil supplier agrees is a reasonable profit margin for the distributor and a reasonable provision for bad debts.

An authorised distributor may increase the reward' received from the arrangements agreed with his supplier if he can operate more efficiently (i.e. have costs below the level used in the calculation or increase sales without increased costs). The distributor is not in a position to increase profit by an independent upward adjustment to the product price net of rebate. An authorised distributor, in exercising the degree of flexibility he may have to determine the rebate offered to individual customers, will do so for the most part to secure volume.'.

It can be seen, therefore, that the level of profit earned by a distributor is set by the supplier whose products he markets. The distributor's ability to influence that profit rests with his ability to run his operation efficiently and the volume of products he handles. While it is the distributor who determines the level of rebate allowed to a customer within limits set by the supplier, these adjustments are made in order to secure volume of sales and do not affect the profitability of a distributor's operation."

Housing Law and Regulations. Questions and answers.

Senator Richard Joseph Shenton asked Deputy Hendricus Adolphus Vandervliet of St. Lawrence , President of the Housing Committee, the following questions –

"1. Will the President confirm that the Housing

Committee still applies Regulation 6 of the Housing Regulations?

2. If  the answer is in the negative, will the President inform the House –

1. how long the Regulation has not been applied;
2. the reasons why the Regulation has not been applied;

3. whether the Committee obtained legal advice in the matter; and
4. how the Committee now defines the phrase ordinarily resident'?

3. Does the Housing Committee or its officers seek and obtain access to the records of persons kept by the Social Security Committee and, if so, for what purpose?
4. How many discretionary or hardship consents were given under the Housing Regulations in 1985?
5. How many J' category essential employee consents were granted under the Housing Regulations in the same period?
6. How many properties were purchased by employers to house their essential staff?
7. Will the President tell the House how the Committee interprets and applies the following phrases which appear either in the Housing Law or Regulations –

resident continuously' born in the Island' inhabitants of the Island' the housing shortage'

and will the President confirm that the Committee applies such interpretations consistently?"

The President of the Housing Committee replied as follows –

"1. No.

2. (a) The Committee has not applied Regulation 6 of the Regulations since about 1974.

2. The reason why Regulation 6 ceased to be applied is now obscure, but probably relates to a provision regarding ordinary residence' which was contained in Article 10(2) of the Housing (Jersey) Law, 1949, and which was repealed in 1974. That provision was wider than the restrictive definition of ordinary residence' which is contained in Regulation 6. Had the Committee continued to apply Regulation 6, a very small number of Jersey-born people may have had difficulty in establishing housing rights.
   3. I cannot say whether the Committee of the day sought legal advice, but my Committee has consulted with the Attorney General, and we will be giving instructions to the Law Draftsman to prepare amending legislation as a matter of urgency.
   4. The Committee has treated a person as ordinarily resident' in the Island if this is the place where, in the settled routine of his life, he regularly, normally or customarily lives. My Committee is advised that that approach is not in accordance with Regulation 6, hence the need for amending legislation.

3. Access to Social Security records can only be obtained with the written consent of the insured person. When information is obtained, it is as supportive evidence in relation to residence in the Island.
4. Whilst we do have statistics at hand relating to consents under Regulation 1(1)(a) to (h), which therefore include consents under Regulation 1(1)(g) for 1985, I regret we do not have a specific record of those granted under Regulation 1(1)(g) (hardship cases) as such. However, since 1st January, 1986 the Department has been keeping full records of all such consents granted.

5. In 1985, the Housing Committee granted 231 consents under Regulation 1(1)(j)of the Housing Regulations. The Regulation states that the Housing Committee shall grant consent to an essentially employed' person where it is satisfied that the consent can, in the best interests of the community, be justified'.

This figure of 231 represents 5 per cent of the total number of consents granted in 1985. Further, I must emphasise that this figure will include transactions where existing essential employees were simply changing residence. Further, many (j) category consents are for limited periods only and hence other essential employees will have left the Island during 1985.

6. In 1985, 14 employers were given consents to purchase properties to house their essential staff. The figure represents 0.3 per cent of the total number of consents granted in that year. The main concern regarding essential employees seems to focus on the finance sector, and it is interesting to note that in the first three months of 1986, only one consent to purchase a property for essential staff has been granted to a company operating in this sector, and none to an individual employee.
7. (a) Resident continuously' means an unbroken period of ordinary residence.

2. Born in the Island' means a person physically born in the Island of Jersey.
3. Inhabitants of the Island' means those people who qualify to lease or purchase dwelling accommodation in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations.
4. The housing shortage' reflects the extent by which the need and demand by inhabitants of the Island to lease or purchase dwelling accommodation exceeds the supply of dwellings available to purchase or lease.

I  would  confirm  that  the  Committee  consistently applies the above interpretations."

Supplementary and Additional Votes of Credit.

THE STATES considered an Act of the Finance and Economics Committee  dated  14th  April,  1986,  presenting  Acts  of  the undermentioned Committees and, acceding to the requests contained therein,  granted  to  the  said  Committees  Supplementary  (S)  and Additional  (A)  votes  of  credit  out  of  the  General  Reserve  as follows –

S  A

£ £

Finance and Economics Committee

Bailiff 's Chambers

0302  Premises  600 0305  Establishment  3,400

Impôts Department

0361  Staff  25,000 0362  Premises  3,000 0363  Supplies and Services  2,000

Income Tax Department

0371  Staff  34,500 0372  Premises  2,500 0373  Supplies and Services  15,000 0375  Establishment  6,000 0376  Legal Costs  5,000

Total request  97,000 Defence Committee

Civil Emergency Office

1053  Supplies and Services  3,800

S  A

£ £

Public Works Committee

Public Buildings

2082  Premises  28,000

Education Committee

Pre-School Education

2400  Pre-School Education  6,700 Primary Schools – Non-Fee Paying

2502  Non-teaching staff  16,500 Technical and Vocational Education

2702  Non-teaching staff  17,500 Special Education

2802  Non-teaching staff  4,300

Child Welfare – Children's Homes

2913  Premises  12,000

Cultural, Sports and Allied Grants

3017  Grant for Industry Year

1986  10,000

Transport of School Children

3060  Transport of school

children  27,700

Structural Maintenance

3091  Major repairs  205,000   Total request £299,700  289,700  10,000

Public Health Committee

Grants

3255  Alcohol Advice Centre  4,000 Carried forward  4,000

S  A

£ £

Public Health Committee cont'd.

Brought forward  4,000

General Hospital

3401  Staff  40,000 3403  Supplies and Services  9,000

Maternity Hospital

3421  Staff  71,000 St. Saviour 's Hospital

3433  Supplies and Services  27,000 Ambulance Service

3461  Staff  14,000

Transport

3461A  Staff   4,000 Total request  169,000

Agriculture and Fisheries Committee

Subsidies and Grants

4139  Financial assistance for the

improvement of producer/

co-operative marketing  15,500

4140  Advertising market research

and financial assistance for

approved schemes to

encourage co-operation

among producers  21,000 4147  Subsidy to offset harbour

dues on imports  7,500

Artificial Insemination and Semen

Bank Scheme

4155  Establishment  1,300 Total request  45,300

S  A

£ £

Etat Civil Committee

4706  1986 Census expenses  25,000

Establishment Committee

5131  Ex-gratia payments to

hospital chefs  240,000

Fort Regent Development Committee

General Overheads

5712  Premises  15,000

CAPITAL VOTES OF CREDIT

Defence Committee

C0133  Replacement Fire

Appliance  4,000

Housing Committee

C1103  Building, Purchase and

Rehabilitation of

dwellings – Journeaux

Court Phase III  26,000

The total requests granted for the April Supply Day amounted to £952,800.

The total of deferred Supply items amounted to £52,400.

Housing  Committee –  Administration:  premises.  Deferred Supply. P.56/86.

THE STATES deferred consideration of the request of the Housing Committee for a supplementary vote of credit in the sum of £6,400 for premises (5402).

The Proposition relative thereto was lodged "au Greffe" by Senator Terence John Le Main.

Education Committee – Athletics Track at F.B. Fields. Deferred Supply. P.57/86.

THE STATES deferred consideration of the request of the Education Committee for an additional capital vote of credit in the sum of £46,000 for the synthetic athletics track at the F.B. Fields (C0539).

The Proposition relative thereto was lodged "au Greffe" by Senator Terence John Le Main.

Road Traffic (No. 30) (Jersey) Regulations, 1986. P.49/86.

THE STATES, in pursuance of the powers conferred on them by the Order in Council of the twenty-sixth day of December, 1851, and Article 49 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law, 1956, as amended, made Regulations entitled the Road Traffic (No. 30) (Jersey) Regulations, 1986.

Motor Vehicles (International Circulation) (Amendment No. 8) (Jersey) Regulations, 1986. P.50/86.

THE STATES, in pursuance of the Motor Vehicles (International Circulation) (Jersey) Law, 1953, made Regulations entitled the Motor Vehicles (International Circulation) (Amendment No. 8) (Jersey) Regulations, 1986.

55 Garden Lane, St. Helier : sale. P.52/86.

THE STATES commenced consideration of a Proposition of the Housing Committee regarding the sale of No. 55 Garden Lane, St. Helier (lodged on 8th April, 1986). After discussion the President of the Housing Committee accepted the reference back proposed by Senator John Stephen Rothwell.

THE STATES rose at 12.35 p.m.

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