States Minutes 4th February 1997

STATES MINUTES 4t h F ebr uary 1997 P ri c e : £ 1.25

T HE STATES assembled on Tuesday, 4th February 1997 at 9.30 a.m. under

t he Presidency of the Bailiff ,

S ir P hi lip Bailhache

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All members were present with the exception of -

S enator Stuart Syvret - suspended

C arlyle John Le Herissier Hinault,

C onnétable of St. John - out of the Island.

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P r aye rs

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Subordinate legislation tabled

The following enactments were laid before the States, namely -

1 . Post Office (General Provisions)

( A m endment No. 41) (Jersey) Order 1997. R & O 9037.

2. Post Office (Foreign Post

P r ovi sions) (Amendment No. 23) (Jersey) O r der 1997. R & O 9038.

3 . Termination of Pregnancy

( G ene ral Provisions) (Jersey) Order 1997. R & O 9039.

4 . Decimal Currency (Calling in of

F i ft y Pence Coins) (Jersey) Order 1997. R & O 9040.

5 . Telecommunications (Telephones)

( A m endment No. 27) (Jersey) Order 1997. R & O 9041.

6 . Gambling (Channel Islands L ot tery) (Jersey) Order 1997.

R & O 9042. Matters presented

The following matters were presented to the States -

1 . Jersey College for Girls

r el oca tion: petition (P.7/97 -

R evi sed) - report of the Education C om mittee - P.15/97.

P r es ented by the Education

C om mittee.

2 . Jersey College for Girls

r el oca tion: petition (P.7/97 -

R evi sed): report of the Planning and E nvi ronment Committee - P.16/97. P r es ented by the Planning and

E nvi ronment Committee.

3 . States of Jersey Law 1966, as

am ende d - delegation of functions: dr iver and vehicle standards -

R .C .7/97.

P r es ented by the Defence

C om mittee.

4 . States of Jersey Law 1966, as

am ende d - delegation of functions: i m m igration - R.C.8/97.

P r es ented by the Defence

C om mittee.

T HE STATES ordered that the said reports be p rinted and distributed.

Matters noted - land transactions

THE STATES noted an Act of the Finance and Economics Committee dated 27th January 1997, showing that, in pursuance of Standing Orders relating to certain transactions in land, the Committee had approved -

( a) as recommended by the Harbours and A i r port Committee, the renewal of the

l eas e to George Troy and Sons of office acc ommodation (Letting No. N20) New N o r th Quay, Port of St. Helier , for a

per iod of one year from 1st January

1997, a t an annual rent of £11,521.11

( repr esenting a rate of approximately

£ 12.22 a square foot), payable

quar terly in advance;

( b) as recommended by the Housing

C om mittee, the lease to the Jersey

C ounci l for Alcoholism of No. 26 West P ar k Avenue, St. Helier (excluding the gr ou nd floor flat), for a period of

ni n e years from 1st August 1996 at a nom inal annual rent of £10;

( c) as recommended by the Health and Social S er vices Committee, the lease to the

J er s ey Council for Alcoholism of No. 28

Wes t Park Avenue, St. Helier , for a

per iod of nine years from 1st August

1996, a t a nominal annual rent of £10;

( d) as recommended by the Health and Social S er vices Committee, the lease from Mrs.

C hr istine Fiott, née Hamon, of the

t hr ee -bedroom property Le Hurel, La Rue de C ambrai, Trinity , for a period of

t w o ye ars from 21st January 1997, for

t he pur pose of accommodating a

C ons ultant Psychiatrist, at an annual

r en t of £14,999 payable quarterly in

adva nce, subject to the Committee

havi ng the option to extend the term

f or a f urther one year period, on the

bas is of a rent review at the time that

t he opt ion would be exercised, with

eac h party being responsible for its

ow n l egal costs associated with the

t rans action;

( e) as recommended by the Agriculture and F i sher ies Committee, the lease from the N a t ional Trust for Jersey of Fields

N o s . 810, 811, 812 and 813, St. Mary

( toget her measuring 34.23.20 vergées)

at T he Elms, St. Mary , for a period of

f ive ye ars from 25th December 1995, at an a nnual rent of £6,000, payable

annua lly in advance, reviewable at the

end o f the first three years, with the

C om mittee being responsible for the

l egal costs associated with the

t rans action.

Matters lodged

The following matters were lodged au Greffe'' -

1. Draft Act relative to the compensation of v ictims of uninsured drivers of motor

v ehicles - P.8/97

P resented by the Defence Committee.

2. Draft Matrimonial Causes (Amendment No. 9) ( Jersey) Law 1996 (Appointed Day) Act

1 99 - P.9/97

P resented by the Legislation Committee.

3. Projet de Loi (199 ) (Amendement) modifiant l e droit criminel - P.10/97

Presenté par le Comité de Législation.

4. Projet de Loi (199 ) (Amendement No. 3) sur l es teneures en fidéicommis et

l 'incorporation d'associations - P.11/97

P resenté par le Comité de Législation.

5. Draft Reservoirs (Jersey) Law 1996

( Appointed Day) Act 199 - P.12/97

P resented by the Public Services Committee.

6. Draft Reservoirs (Arbitrators) (Jersey)

R egulations 199 - P.13/97

P resented by the Public Services Committee.

7. Draft Decimal Currency (Amendment No. 6) ( Jersey) Law 199 - P.14/97

P resented by the Finance and Economics

C ommittee.

Arrangement of public business for the next meeting on 18th February 1997

THE STATES confirmed that the following matters lodged au Greffe'' would be considered at the meeting on 18th February 1997 -

P rojet de Loi (199 ) (Amendement No. 7) r églant la procédure criminelle - P.205/96. L odged: 19th November 1996

C omité de Législation.

D raft Royal Court (Amendment No. 9) ( Jersey) Law 199 - P.206/96.

L odged: 19th November 1996

L egislation Committee.

D raft Act relative to the

com pensation of victims of uninsured d rivers of motor vehicles - P.8/97.

L odged: 4th February 1997

D efence Committee.

D raft Matrimonial Causes (Amendment

N o. 9) (Jersey) Law 1996 (Appointed Day) A ct 199 - P.9/97.

L odged: 4th February 1997

L egislation Committee.

P rojet de Loi (199 ) (Amendement) m odifiant le droit criminel - P.10/97. L odged: 4th February 1997

C omité de Législation.

P rojet de Loi (199 ) (Amendement No. 3 ) sur les teneures en fidéicommis et

l 'incorporation d'associations - P.11/97. L odged: 4th February 1997

C omité de Législation.

D raft Reservoirs (Jersey) Law 1996 ( Appointed Day) Act 199 - P.12/97. L odged: 4th February 1997

P ublic Services Committee.

D raft Reservoirs (Arbitrators)

( Jersey) Regulations 199 - P.13/97. L odged: 4th February 1997

P ublic Services Committee.

D raft Decimal Currency (Amendment N o. 6) (Jersey) Law 199 - P.14/97.

L odged: 4th February 1997

F inance and Economics Committee.

Beachguards headquarters, St. Ouen 's Bay - question and answer - (Tape No. 378)

Deputy Philip John Rondel of St. John asked Senator John Stephen Rothwell, President of the Tourism Committee, the following question -

Does the President consider that the

b eachguards' headquarters at St. Ouen 's Bay

a re adequate for the proper performance of

t he beachguards' important life saving

r ole? Does the Tourism Committee have plans t o build a new beachguards' headquarters,

w hen will the work commence and what

s tandard of equipment will be provided?''

The President of the Tourism Committee replied as follows -

At the second formal meeting of the newly c onstituted Tourism Committee on 20th

J anuary 1997, the Committee was advised

t hat plans had been produced by the Public

S ervices Department, at the request of

t he Tourism Committee, for improvements to t he beachguard headquarters at St. Ouen .

T he estimate of costs submitted by the

P ublic Services Department was £322,000.

P art of these costs arose from the

r equirement of the Planning and Environment C ommittee that the beachguard headquarters a nd new public toilets proposed for the

a rea should not be incorporated into one

b uilding.

T he Deputy of St. John will appreciate that

£ 322,000 is a great deal of money. The

C ommittee believes that, if it can achieve t he desired improvement at less cost, it

s hould seek to do so, even although this

r esulted in missing the January deadline

f or capital requests for the year 1998.

B efore finalising its views, the

C ommittee invited two of its members to

v isit the headquarters. This they did on

2 3rd January 1997. They reported back to

t he full Committee at its meeting on 3rd

F ebruary 1997. The Committee's decision on t hat date was that further discussions

s hould take place with the Public Services

a nd Planning and Environment Committees in a n attempt to find a speedy solution at

r easonable cost.

T he Committee is not in a position at this s tage to comment on timescales although it w ill be working on this project as a high

p riority. Discussions about standard of

e quipment have not yet been finalised but t he Committee is aware that quality is

i mportant in a service dealing,

p otentially, with the saving of lives.

T he Tourism Committee appreciates

t he Deputy of St. John 's concern for this

i mportant service, but wishes to assure him t hat it too shares his concerns but also

w ants to ensure that public money is used w isely.''

Parish rates review - statement

The President of the Legislation Committee made a statement in the following terms -

On 24th May 1994 the States approved the p roposition of the Connétable of St. John - P arish Rates Review - P.124/93 - and

a greed, in principle, that a new Law be

d rafted to replace the Parish Rate

( Administration) (Jersey) Law 1946, as

a mended. The Legislation Committee was

r equested to prepare the necessary

l egislation, which included the

i ntroduction of fixed rateable values.

T he request for this legislation has not b een given priority in the 1997 Law D rafting Programme.

T he Committee was mindful that before any a ction could be taken to introduce the

p rinciple of fixed rateable values it would

b e necessary to ensure that the current

a ssessed values were fair and reasonable. I t, therefore, decided to review the

p rocess of appeals to identify any

d ifficulties which had arisen and whether t here were any anomalies in the system.

I n 1996 the Parish Rate Appeal Board was

c onstituted for the first time to hear

a ppeals against rate assessments in place o f the Supervisory Committee of the C onnétables. The first report of the Appeal

B oard has now been received and recommends t hat work on the new Law should be deferred u ntil such time as greater uniformity and

r ealistic assessment are introduced by the

P arish Assessment Committees. To that end

t he Appeal Board has put forward certain

r ecommendations. These are now to be

c onsidered by the Supervisory Committee of

t he Connétable s with a view to guidelines

b eing formulated for Parish Assessment

C ommittees.

T he Legislation Committee, therefore,

w ishes to advise the States that it has

d ecided to defer further work on the Parish R ates Review until the results of the

i mplementation of such guidelines can be e stablished.''

Sandybrook Residential Nursing Home and Day Care Centre - Stage 1

THE STATES, adopting a proposition of the Health and Social Services Committee -

( a) approved drawings Nos. 1725/104, 111, 112, 11 3, 121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 127,

128, 13 0, 131,132, 133, 139, 241, 252,

254, 25 5, 281, 300 and 301 and 2704/100 and 1 01 showing plans of the Sandybrook R es idential Nursing Home and Daycare

C ent re development, and sections,

el evat ions, external works and drainage

l ayout s for the new residential nursing

hom e to be constructed as stage 1 of

t he deve lopment;

( b) authorised the Greffier of the States t o s ign the said drawings on behalf of t he S tates.

Jersey College for Girls relocation: petition - P.7/97 (Revised)

THE STATES commenced consideration of a proposition of Deputy Imogen Stephanie Nicholls of Grouville regarding the petition on the relocation of the Jersey College for Girls.

The Deputy of Grouville advised the States that she would accept an amendment of Deputy Robert Charles Duhamel of St. Saviour presented to the States that day that for the words Committee

of Inquiry'' there should be substituted the

words Special Committee composed of two members each of the Finance and Economics, Planning and Environment, Education and Public Services Committees and chaired by a member of the Policy and Resources Committee, to

enquire''.

The States proceeded to consider the proposition, as amended, and after further discussion, the States rejected the proposition.

Members present voted as follows -

P our '' (16) Senators

H orsfall, Le Maistre. Connétable s

S t. Clement, St. Peter , St. Saviour , T rinity.

Deputies

L e Geyt(S), Pullin(S), Duhamel(S),

G rouville, St. John , Blampied(H),

C rowcroft(H), Vibert (B), Le Cornu(C), S t. Ouen.

C ont re'' (34) Senators

S henton, Rothwell, Stein, Quérée,

B ailhache, Tomes, Norman, Walker , Kinnard.

Connétable s

S t. Lawrence, St. Mary , St. Brelade , G rouville, St. Helier , St. Ouen .

Deputies

W avell(S), H. Baudains(C), Le Sueur (H), C outanche(L), St. Mary , S. Baudains(H), T rinity, Johns(H), Routier(H), Dorey(H), L ayzell(B), Breckon(S), Huet(H), St.

M artin, Le Main(H), Rabet(H), de la

H aye(B), St. Peter , Dubras(L).

Jersey College for Girls: construction in Green Zone - P.220/96

THE STATES, adopting a proposition of the of the Planning and Environment Committee, supported the intention of the Planning and Environment Committee to grant permission under Article 6 of the Island Planning (Jersey) Law 1964, as amended, for the construction of the new Jersey College for Girls on land adjacent to Mont

Millais and Claremont Road, St. Saviour , as shown on drawing No. 543/1, the land being situated within an area designated as Green Zone on the Island Map, as amended 1-87.

Jersey College for Girls: approval of drawings - P.221/96

THE STATES, adopting a proposition of the Education Committee -

( a) approved drawing Nos. 9310/AL3/580-582, 586, 58 7, 987A, 989A, 990A, 1380-1382,

1386A , 1387, 1391, 1392, 1780, 1781,

1787A , 1790, 9310/ALA/980-982,

9310/ L/L/1/7, and 1/5 showing the

pr op osed new Jersey College for Girls

and t he shared Art, Design and

T echn ology Building to be constructed

on F ield No. 798 and College House, St.

S avi our, and part of Field No. 1591,

S t . H elier and;

( b) authorised the Greffier of the States t o s ign the said drawings on behalf of t he S tates.

Members present voted as follows -

P our '' (33) Senators

S henton, Stein, Quérée, Bailhache , Tomes, N orman, Walker , Kinnard.

Connétable s

S t. Lawrence, St. Mary , St. Brelade , G rouville, St. Helier .

Deputies

W avell(S), H. Baudains(C), Le Sueur (H), C outanche(L), St. Mary , S. Baudains(H),

T rinity, Johns(H), Duhamel(S), Routier(H), D orey(H), Breckon(S), Huet(H), St. Martin , L e Main(H), Rabet(H), de la Haye(B),

S t. Peter, Dubras(L), St. Ouen .

C ont re'' (14) Senator

L e Maistre. Connétable s

S t. Clement, St. Peter , St. Saviour , T rinity.

Deputies

L e Geyt(S), Pullin(S), Layzell(B),

G rouville, St. John , Blampied(H),

C rowcroft(H), Vibert (B), Le Cornu(C).

Adjournment

THE STATES then adjourned, having agreed that the remaining items of public business would be considered as the first items of matters lodged

au Greffe'' listed under Public Business at

the next meeting.

THE STATES rose at 5.20 p.m.

G .H .C . C O P P O C K G r ef fier of the States.