States Minutes 8th March 1988

THE STATES assembled on Tuesday, 8th March, 1988 at 10.15 a.m. under the Presidency of the Bailiff ,

Sir Peter Crill, C.B.E. ____________

All members were present with the exception of –

Senator Bernard Thomas Binnington – out of the Island. Senator Anne Baal – ill.

Senator John Stephen Rothwell – out of the Island.

Fred Philip Webber Clarke, Connétable of St. Helier – ill.

David John de la Haye, Deputy of St. Helier – out of the Island.

Mervyn Renouf Billot, Deputy of St. Saviour – out of the Island.

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Prayers ____________

Subordinate legislation tabled.

The following enactment was laid before the States, namely –

Road and Sand Racing (Jersey) Order, 1988. R & O 7724.

Census 1986: analysis of data. R.C.4.

The  Etat  Civil  Committee  by  Act  dated  9th  February,  1988, presented to the States an analysis of the data contained in the census of 1986.

95   Price : 50p

Matters lodged.

The following subjects were lodged "au Greffe" –

1. Grants for further and higher education. P.24/88. Presented by the Education Committee. The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 22nd March, 1988.
2. Jersey Electricity Company Limited: directors. P.25/88.

Presented by Senator Richard Joseph Shenton.

3. Jersey New Waterworks Company Limited: directors. P.26/88.

Presented by Senator Terence John Le Main.

4. Machinery of Government: review. P.27/88. Presented by the Finance and Economics Committee. The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 12th April, 1988.
5. Attendance Allowance Board: appointment. P.28/88.

Presented by the Social Security Committee. The States decided to take this subject into consideration on 22nd March, 1988.

6. Jersey New Waterworks Company Limited: directors. P.29/88.

Presented by Deputy Maurice Clement Buesnel of St. Helier .

Capital projects: review and control. P.60/87. Withdrawn.

THE STATES noted that the Finance and Economics Committee had withdrawn the Proposition regarding the review and control of capital projects (lodged on 24th March, 1987).

Public 18-hole golf course at Les Landes, St. Ouen . P.139/84.

THE STATES acceded to the request of Deputy John Le Gallais of St. Saviour that consideration of his Proposition relating to a public 18-hole golf course at Les Landes, St. Ouen (lodged on 25th September, 1984) be deferred from 22nd March, 1988 to a later date.

Petition of Mr. B. R. Cooper. Questions and answers.

Deputy Thomas John du Feu of St. Peter asked Deputy Edgar John Becquet of Trinity , President of the Prison Board, the following questions –

"1. What is the expected date of the Prison Board's report

to the States in response to the petition of Mr. B.R. Cooper presented on 24th March, 1987?

2. Will the Board's report contain a copy of the Court of Appeal judgment on 10th January, 1987?
3. Will the President inform the House what action the Board has taken or intends to take concerning the material alteration of certain medical records referred to on page 7 of the judgment in question?"

The President of the Prison Board replied as follows –

"1. The Board has been seeking advice from Her

Majesty's Attorney General and will report to the States as soon as practicable, after that advice has been received.

2. The judgment of the Court of Appeal in the action brought by Mr. B.R. Cooper against my Board is a document which is already available to the public. I cannot yet say whether it will be reproduced in my Board's report.

3. Mr. Cooper has alleged that certain medical records at the Prison were deliberately falsified. That allegation was not substantiated. The particular alteration to which the Deputy refers concerned an entry on the medical record for Mr. Cooper dated 1st September, 1978, where the phrase Injection Largactil 50ml given' was altered to Injection Largactil 50mg given'. The Board has never denied that an incorrect entry had been corrected. I am advised, incidentally, that as a matter of fact, it is medically impossible to give a single injection of50 millilitres. The Court of Appeal stated in relation to this alteration: While it is readily understandable that confusion between millilitres and milligrams could have arisen in the course of making an entry, and could have been corrected informally and at once by the officer making the entry, it is clear that it is undesirable that alterations of this nature should be made without some form of authentication'. In other words, the Court found nothing sinister about the correction of an error in a medical record, but suggested that such corrections should be initialled. I

have no doubt that that point has been taken by the medical staff concerned and I do not consider that any action needs to be taken by my Board in that respect."

Extension of the period of compulsory education. Statement.

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

"1. On 17th November, 1987, the States approved the

proposition of the Education Committee, following the report of the Advisory Training Council, to introduce legislation making education compulsory for all children up to the age of 16.

2. The Education Committee has considered how best to carry the proposition forward. The main legislation governing compulsory full-time education is the Loi sur l'Instruction Primaire' of 1912, as amended in 1953, when the school leaving age was raised from 14 to 15. A further amendment raising the leaving age to 16 would not meet the present case.
3. The Law deals with the provision of education and the attendance of children at écoles publiques elementaires'. The Advisory Training Council proposals, endorsed by the Education Committee and the States, are intended to allow pupils to meet the obligation to remain in full-time education by staying at school orby attendance at Highlands College orby participating in courses expressly approved for the purpose by the Education Committee. Neither of these latter courses of action would be covered by simple amendment to the 1912 Law.
4. There is a pressing need to introduce comprehensive legislation to replace the existing inadequate legislation and to support the whole future operation of the Education Service, and it is the Education Committee's intention to introduce such legislation in 1989. In the circumstances, therefore, it is sensible to incorporate the change in the law regarding the compulsory period of education in the proposed new legislation.
5. The new law will ensure that pupils entering secondary school in September 1989 will be required to remain in full-time education until they are 16. In the meantime, the Committee will give every encouragement to pupils who enter secondary school this coming September to remain in full-time education up to 16 and additional courses at the secondary schools and at Highlands College will be developed so that they are in operation by not later than September 1992. If at all possible the first pilot courses will be run from September 1991.

6. In this way the Committee expects to be able to offer the new courses as pilot schemes to pupils who entered secondary school last September and on a voluntary basis, to those entering secondary school in September this year. They will then be established as part of the provision for compulsory education for those entering secondary school in September 1989."

Building development at Jersey College for Girls and Victoria College. Statement.

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

"1. On 12th May, 1987, the former Education Committee

lodged au Greffe' a Report and Proposition seeking the agreement of the States to major capital works at Jersey College for Girls and Victoria College. In the report five options for Jersey College for Girls were identified, ranging from rebuilding part of the school on its existing site to replacing it in part or in whole on the playing fields at La Pouquelaye. Although the report and proposition have not yet been debated, planning votes have been provided in the 1988 Capital Budget and first sketch schemes for the partial rebuilding' option for Girls College and for additional facilities at Victoria College, have been produced. I will now be requesting the withdrawal of that Report.

2. The Island Development Committee has very recently asked the Education Committee to give serious consideration to removing Jersey College for Girls from its present site. The case for considering another location for the school rests, from the planning point of view, upon the effect which school traffic has upon

the ring road and the alternative uses available for a prime site close to the town centre.

3. The Education Committee has agreed to co-operate with the Island Development Committee in looking for a new site for Jersey College for Girls and, in doing so, wishes to explore the possibility of closer co-operation between the two colleges at sixth form level. That objective was clearly identified by the former Education Committee in the statement made to the States in July 1986 and repeated in the report lodged in May 1987. Relocation of Jersey College for Girls will crucially affect any further integration at sixth form level and must also have consequences for the buildings planned for both colleges in terms of possible shared use of facilities.
4. The Education Committee recognises that the investigating of potential sites for Jersey College for Girls will delay the planning process, and has decided that those investigations must be completed by June 1988. During this period the Committee will ensure that the widest possible consultation takes place. If, by that time, no acceptable alternative site has been identified, there will be an immediate resumption of planning of the developments for both colleges with the objective of completing all stages by the end of1989. Contracts can then be let for work at both colleges to begin early in 1990. Subject to the future approval of the States, it has been agreed that funds should be made available for both projects in that year.
5. The Education Committee is convinced that the two colleges must be seen as complementary and that, so far as is possible, the maximum benefit for both colleges should be achieved from these major developments which will cost several millions of pounds. In realistic terms, the delay for the start of building on either site will be a matter of months. The result of this considerable capital expenditure will affect both colleges for decades and set in that perspective, the Committee believes that the delay is justified. In the meantime, immediate steps are being taken to make temporary improvements to the teaching facilities at Girls College."

Public Employees (Contributory Retirement Scheme) (Transitional Provisions) (No. 2) (Jersey) Regulations, 1988. P.17/88.

THE STATES, in pursuance of Article 2 of the Public Employees (Retirement) (Jersey) Law, 1967, made Regulations entitled the Public Employees (Contributory Retirement Scheme) (Transitional Provisions) (No. 2) (Jersey) Regulations, 1988.

Gambling (Betting) (Amendment No. 5) (Jersey) Regulations, 1988. P.18/88 and Amendments. P.19/88.

THE STATES, in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 3 of the Gambling (Jersey) Law, 1964 made Regulations entitled Gambling (Betting) (Amendment No. 5) (Jersey) Regulations, 1988.

THE STATES rose at 10.50 a.m.

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