States Minutes 16th May 1989

STATES MINUTES 1 6 t h M  ay, 1989  P r ic e : 7 5 p  

 THE STATES assembled on Tuesday, 16th May, 1989 at 10.15 a.m. under

 t he Presidency of the Bailiff ,

S i r Peter Crill, C.B.E.

_ _ _ _ _ _______

All Members were present with the exception of -

S enator Richard Joseph Shenton -

 a bsent.

S enator Terence John Le Main - out of

 t he Island.

S enator Peter Geoffrey Kevitt Manton - a bsent.

M argaret Sylvia Rose Beadle, Deputy of S t. Brelade - ill.

 T homas James Jordan, Deputy of St.

B relade - out of the Island.

 P atricia Ann Bailhache , Deputy of St.

H elier - out of the Island.

_ _ _ _ _ _______

P r a y e rs  

_ _ _ _ ________

Deputy M.S.R. Beadle of St. Brelade.

The Bailiff informed the States

that Deputy Beadle was recovering after an operation and that he would convey to her the best wishes of the Assembly for a speedy recovery.

Distinguished visitors.

The Bailiff welcomed to the

Assembly Messrs. Doug Coe and Martin Bosteller from Washington, Bill Cross and Tony Turner from the United Kingdom and Anthony Cordle, all of whom were closely involved in the organisation of Prayer Breakfasts in Parliamentary Assemblies in London and Washington.

Subordinate legislation tabled.

The following enactments were laid before the States, namely -

 1 .  Post Office (Postal Orders)

( A m endment No. 13) (Jersey) Order, 1 9 8 9. R & O 7911.

 2 .  Road Traffic (Public Parking

P l a ces) (Amendment No. 8) (Jersey) O  rd er, 1989. R & O  7912.

 3 .  Road Traffic (Saint Lawrence)

( A m endment No. 10) (Jersey) Order, 1 9 8 9. R & O 7913.

 4 .  Italian Food Fair (Jersey) Order, 1 9 8 9. R & O  7914.

 5 .  Traditional Irish Fayre (Jersey) O  rd er, 1989. R & O 7915.

 6 .  Portuguese Food Fair (Jersey) O  rd er, 1989. R & O 7916.

Prison Board Report 1988. R.C.9.

The Prison Board by Act dated 24th April, 1989, presented to the States the report of the Board for 1988.

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

Advisory Council for Sport,

Leisure and Recreation: report from March 1988 to March 1989. R.C.10.

The Education Committee by Act

dated 19th April, 1989, presented to the States a report on the activities of the Advisory Council for Sport, Leisure and Recreation for the period March 1988 to March 1989.

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

Dental benefit and services: introduction (P.117/87): report. P.60/89.

The Social Security Committee by

Act dated 27th April, 1989, presented to the States a report on the introduction of dental benefit and services.

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

Matters noted - land transactions.

THE STATES noted an Act of the

Finance and Economics Committee dated 28th April, 1989, showing that in pursuance of Standing Orders relating to certain transactions in land, the Committee had approved -

 ( a) as recommended by the

R e s ources Recovery Board, the

g r a nting to the Parish of St.

H  el ier of a servitude to allow the P a r ish to cross the Bie du Moulin d e l a Ville' for a nominal

c o n sideration of #10 with each

s id e being responsible for the

p a y ment of its own legal fees and t h e Parish of St. Helier being

r e sp onsible for any costs involved i n a ccommodation works;

 ( b) as recommended by the

D  ef ence Committee, the leasing

f ro m Mr. Ronald Gasnier and Mrs. A n ne Gasnier, née O'Hanlon, of the p r o perty Bel Air, Les Ametôts,

B a g atelle Lane, St. Saviour , a

f u ll y-furnished four-bedroomed

d e ta ched house, for a period of

t w o years, with an option to

r e n ew, with effect from 1st May,

1 9 8 9, at a weekly rent of #180, to

b e r eviewed at the end of the

f ir s t year in line with the cost

o f l iving index, required for

o c c upation by the Warr ant Officer,

J e rs ey Field Squadron (M);

 ( c) as recommended by the

E d u cation Committee, and in

a c c ordance with an Act of the

S t a tes dated 24th January, 1989, t h e purchase of Adelheim Guest

H  o use, St. Helier , required for

u s e as a hostel for homeless

t e en agers, for the sum of

# 1 7 0,000, with the Committee being r e sp onsible for the payment of its l e ga l fees;

 ( d) as recommended by the

E s t ablishment Committee, the

l e as ing from Mr. Roy Huelin Vibert

o f t he property No. 1 Baycroft

N  u rseries, St. Clement , for a

f u rt her period of one year from

3 1 st May, 1989, at an annual rent

o f # 6,504, required for occupation

b y an essential employee appointed

o n a contract basis.

Matters lodged.

The following subjects were lodged au Greffe'' -

 1 .  Draft Sea Fisheries (Size

L i m its) (Jersey) Regulations, 1 9 8 . P.58/89.

P r e sented by the Agriculture a n d Fisheries Committee.

 2 .  Draft Lodging Houses

( R e gistration) (Amendment) ( J er sey) Law, 198 . P.59/89.   P r e sented by the Housing

C o m mittee.

 3 .  Draft Amendment (No. 8) to S t a nding Orders  Relating to C e r tain Transactions in

L a n d. P.61/89.

P r e sented by the Legislation C o m mittee.

THE STATES decided to take the abovementioned subjects into consideration on 30th May, 1989.

The following subject was lodged on 2nd May, 1989 -

W est of Albert Pier reclamation site: d evelopment. P.53/89.

P resented by the Public Works

C ommittee. The States decided to take t his subject into consideration on

3 0th May, 1989.

The following subjects were lodged on 9th May, 1989 -

 1 .  Draft Merchandise Marks

( A m endment) (Jersey) Law, 198 . P . 5 4/89.

P r e sented by the Finance and

E c o nomics Committee.

 2 .  Highlands College: residential a c c ommodation. P.55/89.

P r e sented by the Education

C o m mittee.

 3 .  Les Quennevais School: central h e a ting system. P.56/89.

P r e sented by the Education

C o m mittee.

THE STATES decided to take the abovementioned subjects into consideration on 30th May, 1989.

 4 .  Rezoning of land for category A

h o u sing. P.57/89.

P r e sented by the Island

D  ev elopment Committee. The States d e c ided to take this subject into

c o n sideration on 13th June, 1989.

Draft Lodging Houses

(Registration) (Amendment) (Jersey) Law, 198 . P.170/88. Withdrawn.

THE STATES noted that the

President of the Housing Committee had withdrawn the draft Lodging Houses (Registration) (Amendment) (Jersey) Law, 198 (lodged on 13th December, 1988) having lodged a revised draft Law (P.59/89) at the present Sitting.

Fernleigh, Gorey Village:

acquisition of land. P.21/89. Withdrawn.

THE STATES noted that the

President of the Housing Committee had withdrawn the Proposition relating to the acquisition of land at Fernleigh, Gorey Village (lodged on 14th February, 1989).

Marketing of Jersey agricultural

produce in the United Kingdom. Statement.

The President of the Agriculture

and Fisheries Committee made a Statement in the following terms -

  Members will be aware that on Monday  8 th May, a leading article on the

 a bove subject appeared in the Jersey

 E vening Post and contained the

f ollowing paragraph -

T h e Agriculture and

F i s heries Committee, meanwhile, s a y that they will not become

i n v olved unless asked, because the i ss u e is a commercial matter.'

T he article then commented as f ollows -

W h at nonsense! Do they need

r e m inding that one of their roles i s, o r certainly should be, to act i n t he interests of the taxpayer?'

I would wish Members to know that

t he statement on policy attributed to

m y Committee is totally inaccurate and m isleading and that at no time was I,

t he Vice-President or the Chief

O fficer of the Department contacted by t he Jersey Evening Post in order to

o btain a statement on Committee policy p rior to the publication of the

l eading article.

T he true position is that while

t he Committee recognises that it

c annot get involved in the specialised d ay to day marketing of produce with

t he attendant instantaneous commercial d ecisions that have to be made, it

d oes require that Jersey produce is

m arketed in such a way that the

c ustomer considers that he is buying

f rom a united Jersey' and cannot play

o ne group of growers off against

a nother in order to benefit himself at

t he growers' expense.

T he Jersey Agricultural

M arketing Federation exists in part to e nsure that this does not happen and

i t was primarily for this reason that

t he Committee viewed with dismay an e arlier proposal by H. & H. to leave t he Federation and go it alone'. The C ommittee felt that if that were to

h appen the result would almost

c ertainly be to create the type of

a dverse internal competition referred t o.

I t is the Committee's opinion

t hat competition between the marketing g roups that leads to a better service

b eing offered to the grower is

d esirable but that competition leading

t o lower market returns would be

u nacceptable.

T he present situation with regard to

t he Jersey Agricultural Marketing

F ederation is that it is functioning

a s before but it is currently under

r eview and the Committee is at present a waiting proposals from the two

p rincipal marketing groups which form t he basis of the Federation and it

e xpects to continue discussions at the e nd of the present potato season. In

t his regard the Committee is pleased

t o note that at this time there is

c onsiderable contact between the two m arketing groups at a working level.

H owever, the Committee would wish it t o be known by all concerned that it

i s determined to ensure, either

t hrough the Federation or, if

n ecessary, by some other means that

J ersey produce is marketed in a

c ohesive and unified manner providing t he highest possible market returns

f or all exporting growers thus

r educing their degree of reliance on

t he taxpayer for a reasonable income.

F inally I would wish to report that I a nd my Chief Officer have had the

o pportunity to meet wholesalers,

r etailers and customers from many

a reas of the United Kingdom in the

l ast two weeks. There is undoubtedly a n excellent demand for our product a nd unanimous agreement that the

q uality is exceptional as is borne out b y over 6,000 tons already sold at

w hat I can only describe as premium p rices.

G iven attention to our marketing

s trategy I believe that we can

c ontinue to market quality crops at t he premium they deserve.''

Fernleigh, Gorey Village: acquisition of land. Statement.

The President of the Housing

Committee made a Statement in the following terms -

  In 1987 the States, at the request

o f the Island Development Committee,

 r ezoned Fernleigh, Gorey Village, for

 c ategory A housing. My Committee felt  d uty-bound to seek to acquire this

 s ite in order to construct ten States

 L oan houses. On three occasions we

 r equested meetings with the

 l andowners, but all such requests were  d enied. Our offer of purchase, based

o n a professional valuation, was

 r ejected out of hand.

 I t was because of this inability

 t o negotiate the acquisition of this

 s ite that my Committee felt it had no

 c hoice but to seek compulsory purchase

 p owers from the States. However, on

 2 6th April, 1989, information was

 r eceived from the landowners' Advocate

 w hich was not known either to the

 C ommittee or my Department before. In

 1 975, a Review Board was appointed to

 c onsider a complaint by Mr. and Mrs.

 B rown against a decision of the Island

 Development Committee as to the manner  i n which they should develop the land

 i n question. At the hearing,

 r epresentatives of the Island

 D evelopment Committee stated that that

 C ommittee fully accepted that there

 c ould be no question of compulsory

 a cquisition now or at any time in the

 f uture'. In its written findings, the

 B oard referred in particular to the

 f act that the Island Development

 C ommittee accepts unreservedly that

  powers of compulsion shall not apply

 t o the land'.'

A lthough this particular case

o ccurred fourteen years ago, my

C ommittee now feels that in the light

o f what almost amounts to an

u ndertaking by another States'

c ommittee, it would not be right to

a sk the States to grant compulsory

p urchase powers in connexion with this s ite.

I regret any inconvenience or upset

w hich may have been caused to Mr. and M rs. Brown. But I am bound to say that

I also regret their declining, on

t hree occasions, our request to meet

w ith them (the first of which in

J anuary of this year), at which

m eeting they could have imparted this

i mportant information which has only

n ow been made available to me, and

w hich would undoubtedly have caused my C ommittee not to seek compulsory

p urchase powers. We therefore do not

i ntend to proceed with the Proposition

P .21/89.''

Le Squez, Youth Club: further development.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Education Committee -

 ( a) approved Drawings Nos. 2474/26, 2 4 7 4/55, 2474/56, 2474/57,

2 4 7 4/58, 2474/59 and 2474/70

s h o wing the development of further y o u th facilities at Le Squez Youth

C l u b;

 ( b) authorised the Greffier of the

S t a tes to sign the said Drawings

o n behalf of the States.

Loi (1989) pour abroger la Loi (1907) touchant l'usage de timbres de commerce. P.23/89.

THE STATES, subject to the

sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, adopted a Law entitled the Loi (1989) pour abroger la Loi (1907) touchant l'usage de timbres de commerce.

Road Traffic (No. 33) (Jersey) Regulations, 1989. P.44/89.

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. 33) (Jersey) Regulations, 1989.

Health Insurance (Medical Benefit) (Amendment No. 34) (Jersey) Regulations, 1989. P.45/89.

THE STATES, in pursuance of

Articles 18 and 46 of the Health Insurance (Jersey) Law, 1967, as amended, made Regulations entitled the Health Insurance (Medical Benefit) (Amendment No. 34) (Jersey) Regulations, 1989.

Dorset Street, St. Helier: Nos. 12-20. P.46/89.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Housing Committee -

 ( a) approved Drawings Nos. 316/5C, 3 1 6 /8 and 316/12 showing the

d e m olition of Nos. 12, 12½,  14,

1 6 , 18 and 20 Dorset Street, St.

H  el ier, and the construction of

s e v en terraced two-storey, two-

b e d roomed houses, each with

e x te rnal store and patio and

s h a red parking to the rear;

 ( b) authorised the Greffier of the

S t a tes to sign the said Drawings

o n behalf of the States.

79 Rouge Bouillon, St. Helier. P.47/89.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition of the Housing Committee -

 ( a) approved Drawings Nos. 88/406/05B, 0 6 A , 07A and 08 showing the

r e fu rbishment and conversion of 79

R o u ge Bouillon, St. Helier , into

f o u r self-contained, one-bedroomed

f la t s;

 ( b) authorised the Greffier of the

S t a tes to sign the said Drawings

o n behalf of the States.

Use of former site of Maternity Hospital (Jersey) Law, 1989. P.51/89.

THE STATES, subject to the

sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, made a Law entitled the Use of former site of Maternity Hospital (Jersey) Law, 1989.

Public employees: control of manpower. P.154/88.

THE STATES, adopting a Proposition

of the Establishment Committee, agreed -

 ( 1) that a manpower budgetary system, a s s et out in sub-paragraphs (a)

t o ( d) of paragraph 4 of the

r e p ort of the Establishment

C o m mittee, dated November 1988, s h o uld be instituted and that such

a s y stem should apply with effect

f ro m 1989; and

 ( 2) that the growth of all jobs within t he public sector, including those r e fe rred to in paragraph 3 of the

s a id report, should be subject to

t h e control of the Establishment

C o m mittee and that the necessary l e gi slation should be introduced

a c c ordingly.

THE STATES rose at 11.35 a.m.

R . S . G R A Y

Deputy Greffier of the States.