States Minutes 10th February 1987

THE STATES assembled on Tuesday, 10th February, 1987 at 10.15 a.m. under the Presidency of the Deputy Bailiff , Vernon Amy Tomes, Esquire. ____________

All members were present with the exception of –

Senator Ralph Vibert – ill.

Senator Reginald Robert Jeune – out of the Island. Senator John Stephen Rothwell – out of the Island. Senator Terence John Le Main – absent.

Snowdon George Robins, Connétable of St. Saviour – ill. John Philip Farley, Deputy of St. Helier – ill.

Margaret Sylvia Rose Beadle, Deputy of St. Brelade – ill.

Dereck André Carter, Deputy of St. Helier – out of the Island.

____________

Prayers ____________

Subordinate legislation tabled.

The following enactment was laid before the States, namely –

 Motor  Vehicles  (Construction  and  Use)  (Amendment  No. 20) (Jersey) Order, 1987. R & O 7596.

Births, Marriages and Deaths in 1986: Statement. R.C.1.

The  Etat  Civil  Committee  by  Act  dated  3rd  February,  1987, presented to the States a Statement of Births, Marriages and Deaths in 1986.

45   Price : 75p

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

Matters noted – land transactions.

THE STATES noted an Act of the Finance and Economics Committee dated 2nd February, 1987, showing that in pursuance of Standing Orders relating to certain transactions in land, the Committee had approved –

1. as recommended by the Resources Recovery Board, the leasing to Dunell's Limited of an area of land measuring 465 square feet of land at Beaumont Pumping Station, St. Peter , for a period of nine years, commencing 25th December, 1986, at an annual rent of £300, with rent reviews at the end of every third year;
2. as recommended by the Public Works Committee, the purchase from Daisy Hill Real Estates Limited of849 square feet of land on the east side of Rue des Prés Sorsoleil, and 671 square feet on the west side of Rue des Prés Sorsoleil, St. Lawrence , required in connexion with a proposed road widening scheme, for a total consideration of £1,520, with the Committee being responsible for the payment of all legal fees;
3. as recommended by the Public Works Committee, the purchase from Mrs. Evelyn Mary Le Bas, née Coombes, of 2,430 square feet of land required in connexion with the provision of a bus lay-by on the south side of La Route des Gênets, to the west of Mont Gras d'Eau, St. Brelade , for a consideration of £2,430, and a strip of agricultural land to the south, measuring 6,965 square feet of land, for a consideration of £910, representing £610 for the land and £300 compensation for severance, on the basis that the agricultural land would only be used for the construction of a bus shelter or for the planting of trees and shrubs and not for any other form of beneficial development, with the Committee being responsible for the payment of all legal fees;

4. as recommended by the Harbours and Airport Committee, the lease to the Jersey Sub-Aqua Club of a Club Room at La Folie, St. Helier (Letting No. LP4) for a further period of three years, commencing 1st January, 1987, at an annual rent of £575.

Matters lodged.

The following subjects were lodged "au Greffe" –

1. Defence Contribution: HMS Jersey. P.27/87. Presented by Senator Betty Brooke. The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 24th February, 1987.
2. Broadcasting of States' Meetings. P.28/87. Presented by the Broadcasting Committee. The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 3rd March, 1987.
3. La Melonnerie, St. Brelade : rezoning for housing. P.29/87.

Presented by the Island Development Committee.

4. La Melonnerie, St. Brelade : purchase. P.30/87. Presented by the Housing Committee.
5. Draft Trade Marks (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law, 198 . P.31/87.

Presented by the Finance and Economics Committee.

6. Immigration Committee: appointment. P.32/87. Presented by Senator Richard Joseph Shenton.

Housing Regulations: application of Regulation 1(1)(g). P.12/87.

THE STATES acceded to the request of Senator Richard Joseph Shenton that the Proposition relating to the application of Regulation 1(1)(g) of the Housing Regulations (lodged on 13th January, 1987) be considered on 3rd March, 1987.

Post of Controller of Mails. Questions and answers.

Deputy Jean Amy Le Maistre of St. Helier asked Senator Richard Joseph Shenton, President of the Committee for Postal Administration, the following questions –

"1. Will the President inform the House as to the date

when the present Controller of Mails was entitled to retire?

2. On what date did the Committee agree to a job description and an advertisement being issued announcing the vacancy?
3. Was the text of the advertisement, first issued, agreed by the Committee?
4. Has any advertisement in relation to this post appeared at any time outside the Island?
5. If so was it approved by the Committee?
6. On what date does the Committee expect the newly appointed Controller to be sufficiently trained in the complex matters of international postal regulations and practice, to undertake fully the duties of Controller?".

The President of the Committee for Postal Administration replied as follows –

"1. The present Controller, Mails and Operations, as a member of staff still under the provisions of the Post

Office Pension Scheme, could retire at any time, retirement pension in respect of total years of service not being payable, however, unless and until age 60 is reached, and service between that age and 65 being liable to the needs of the Department. In June 1986, having considered retiring later in that year the present Controller acceded to a request from the Postal Committee to defer the date until at latest 26th August, 1987.

2. 5th June, 1986.
3. As the Deputy , who was Vice-President of the Committee from January 1977 to February 1980 and President from then until December 1984, will recall, it is not part of the Civil Service Appointment Procedures for the text of advertisements to be agreed by the Administering Committee. An outline advertisement was drafted in the Department in the usual way and submitted for consideration by the States' Personnel Department, which publicised it virtually unchanged in the Civil Service, the Department of Postal Administration, and in the local Press.
4. The impending retirement and vacancy were publicised, in similar terms to those used in the local advertisements, in the official Post Office Gazette (published in the United Kingdom) in accordance with previous custom. No other notification or advertisement was placed, as this was not considered necessary.
5. This question has already been answered in the replies to questions 3 and 4. I would add, however, for the information of the Deputy and other Members, that being concerned at the low number of local responses to the original advertisement, the Postal Committee requested re-advertisement, to embody an invitation for applications from candidates with proven operational and administrative experience, including successful management of a substantial work-force, who would receive accelerated experience in the Department and concentrated professional training. This re-advertisement was also drafted in the Department and submitted in the usual way for the consideration of the States' Personnel Department, which publicised it in the same terms within the Civil Service, the Department of Postal Administration and in the local Press, this leading to a substantial increase in the number of local candidates.

6. In view of the complexities recognised and referred to by the Deputy , and the need for the newly appointed Controller (Designate) to be given every opportunity to take full advantage of accelerated experience at all levels in the Department up to and including that of Controller of Mails and Operations, plus concentrated professional training to be arranged at the Post Office Management College and elsewhere, it is not possible to give a precise date, which must depend upon the Controller (Designate) being considered fully equipped to fulfil the duties to the standard expected of the Department and by the Committee. This is not likely to be before the spring of1988, nor later than the autumn of that year.".

Resignation from Jersey New Waterworks Company Limited. Personal statement by Deputy J. Le Gallais.

Deputy John Le Gallais of St. Saviour made a personal statement in the following terms –

"I wish to inform the Members of the House that I have tendered my resignation as a States-appointed Member of the Board of the Jersey New Waterworks Company Limited to the Finance and Economics Committee.

I have done so because of a disagreement over the Board's policy with regard to salaries and wages and for no other reason. I found that decisions of the Board in December and again this month were incompatible with my membership of the Establishment Committee.

I would like to emphasise that I have reached this decision after a great deal of thought and with very much regret. I unequivocally support the company's engineering and financial policies, admire the efficient manner in which the company performs and have no other disagreement with the Board whatsoever. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the opportunity I have had of serving on the Board of the Jersey New Waterworks Company Limited, an experience I have greatly enjoyed.".

Airport accommodation: lease to Shell (U.K.) Ltd.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Harbours and Airport Committee –

1. approved the lease to Shell (U.K.) Limited of the undermentioned Letting Areas at Jersey Airport, as shown in Drawing No. A1-87 for a period of eight years, with effect from 1st January, 1986, at a total annual rent of £13,450, subject to review clauses at the end of the third and sixth years of the lease, namely –

1. Letting B 88A823 square feet of office accommodation at a rate of £5 a square foot, being an annual rent of £4,115;
2. Letting B 88B1,000 square yards of hardstanding at a rate of £4.05 a square yard, being an annual rent of £4,500;
3. Letting B 112

1,208.33 square yards of land adjoining Quennevais Road, at a rate of £4.00 a square yard, being an annual rent of £4,835;

2. agreed to the provision of seven car parking spaces to Shell (U.K.) Limited in the Fuel Car Park, free of charge, from 1st January, 1986;
3. authorised the Greffier of the States to sign the necessary Agreement;
4. authorised the Treasurer of the States to receive the rent as it becomes due.

Three Oaks Vineries, St. Lawrence : Green Zone exception. P.118/86.

THE STATES adopting a Proposition of the Island Development Committee, authorised that Committee to permit the construction of one dwelling, measuring approximately 1,500 square feet, to complement an existing glasshouse unit at Three Oaks Vineries, Le Mont Sorsoleil, St. Lawrence , notwithstanding that the site is in the Green Zone.

Members present voted as follows –

"Pour" (27)

Senators

Binnington, Horsfall, Ellis, Baal, Manton, Brooke.

Connétable s

Grouville , St. John , St. Brelade , St. Martin , St. Clement , St. Lawrence , St. Mary , St. Ouen .

Deputies

Le Maistre(H), Quénault(B), Le Gallais(S), Trinity , Filleul(H), Le Fondré(L), Grouville , St. Mary , St. John , St. Peter , Mahoney(H), St. Martin , Baudains(C).

"Contre" (13)

Connétable s

Trinity , St. Peter , St. Helier .

Deputies

Mourant(H), St. Ouen , Morel (S), Roche(H), Le Brocq(H), Le Quesne(S), Vandervliet(L), Blampied(H), Billot(S), Norman(C).

46/48 Kensington Place, St. Helier : cession. P.21/87.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Public Works Committee –

1. approved the cession, free of charge, to Law Holdings Limited of the whole of the site of No. 46/48 Kensington Place, St. Helier , measuring 4,460 square feet and shown hatched on Drawing No. 265/119, in exchange for the right of the Public of the Island for all time on the assembled site of Southleigh Cottages and 46/48 Kensington Place –

1. to construct and maintain roads and pavements;
2. to lay and maintain services underneath such roads and pavements;
3. to enjoy vehicular and pedestrian rights of way over such roads and pavements;

2. authorised the Attorney General and the Greffier of the States to pass the necessary contract in the matter.

Milk (Sale to Special Classes) (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations, 1987. P.22/87.

THE STATES, by virtue and in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by the Order in Council of the fourteenth day of April, 1884, made Regulations entitled the Milk (Sale to Special Classes) (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations, 1987.

Crown Advocates (Jersey) Law, 1987. P.24/87.

THE STATES, subject to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, adopted a Law entitled the Crown Advocates (Jersey) Law, 1987.

THE STATES rose at 4 p.m.

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