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States Minutes 16th December 2020

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THE STATES assembled on Wednesday 16th December 2020, at 9.30 a.m. under the Presidency of the Deputy Bailiff , Robert James MacRae , Esquire.

 __________________

All members were present at roll call with the exception of –

Connétable Deidre Wendy Mezbourian of St. Lawrence – excused attendance (joined at 11.47 a.m.) Connétable  Sadie  Anthea  Le  Sueur-Rennard  of   St. Saviour   excused  attendance  (joined  at 10.14 a.m.) Deputy Jessica Harriet Perchard of St. Saviour – excused attendance

 __________________

Prayers read by the Greffier of the States __________________

Standing Order 55A – meeting held remotely

THE STATES assembled remotely, in accordance with Standing Order 55A, as the Bailiff considered that it was not possible to convene or maintain a quorate meeting in view of a substantial risk to the health of both States Members and the public.

Alderney – 75th Anniversary of Homecoming Day

The Deputy Bailiff , on behalf of all members, marked the 75th anniversary of Homecoming Day that had been celebrated in Alderney the previous day, 15th December 2020.

Government Plan 2021–2024 P.130/2020

THE  STATES  resumed  consideration  of  the  proposition  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  entitled Government Plan 2021–2024' (P.130/2020), as amended, and, adopting an amendment of Senator Ian Joseph Gorst (P.130/2020 Amd.(14)), agreed that –

in paragraph (i), after the words "Summary Table 9 to the Report" the word "and" should be deleted;

after paragraph (i), there should be inserted the following new paragraphs –

"(j) to agree that the Minister for Treasury and Resources should prioritise the application of any

unspent funds in 2020, be these in respect of spending related to COVID-19, departmental revenue expenditure or capital expenditure, to be returned to the Consolidated Fund, and used to minimise the borrowing requirement from the revolving credit facility as set out in part (c);

  1. to agree that the Minister for Treasury and Resources should prioritise the application of any  unspent  funds  in  2021,  be  these  in  respect  of  spending  related  to  COVID-19, departmental revenue expenditure or capital expenditure, to be returned to the Consolidated Fund, and used to minimise the borrowing requirement from the revolving credit facility as set out in part (c);
  1. to request the Council of Ministers to agree an estates strategy in sufficient time for the next Government Plan (2022-25) to include a list of potential sales, in order for any funds raised to be prioritised for use to minimise any future borrowing requirements by the Minister for Treasury and Resources; and"; and

paragraph (j) should be re-designated as paragraph (m) accordingly.

Members present voted as follows –

POUR: 41 CONTRE: 7 ABSTAIN: 0

Senator I.J. Gorst

Senator L.J. Farnham Senator S.C. Ferguson Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré Senator T.A. Vallois Senator K.L. Moore

Senator S.W. Pallett Connétable of St. Helier Connétable of St. Clement Connétable of St. Lawrence Connétable of St. Saviour Connétable of St. Brelade Connétable of Grouville Connétable of St. John Connétable of Trinity Connétable of St. Peter Connétable of St. Mary Connétable of St. Ouen Connétable of St. Martin Deputy J.A. Martin (H) Deputy of Grouville

Deputy K.C. Lewis (S) Deputy J.M. Maçon (S) Deputy S.J. Pinel (C) Deputy of St. Martin Deputy of St. Ouen

Deputy L.M.C. Doublet (S) Deputy R. Labey (H) Deputy S.M. Wickenden (H) Deputy of St. Mary

Deputy G.J. Truscott (B) Deputy L.B.E. Ash (C) Deputy K.F. Morel (L) Deputy G.C.U. Guida (L) Deputy of St. Peter

Deputy of Trinity

Deputy of St. John

Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat (H) Deputy S.M. Ahier (H) Deputy K.G. Pamplin (S) Deputy I. Gardiner (H)


Senator S.Y. Mézec Deputy G.P. Southern (H) Deputy M. Tadier (B) Deputy M.R. Higgins (H) Deputy J.H. Young (B) Deputy R.J. Ward (H) Deputy C.S. Alves (H)

THE STATES, resuming consideration of the proposition of the Council of Ministers, as amended, commenced consideration of an amendment of the Connétable of St. Helier (P.130/2020 Amd.(10)) and, adopting an amendment of the Council of Ministers (P.130/2020 Amd.(10)Amd.), agreed that –

the existing paragraph as should be designated as paragraph 2 and the following paragraph should be inserted –

"1 PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (f) –

After the words "Appendix 2 – Summary Tables 5(i) and (ii) of the Report" insert the words –

 ", except that, in Summary Table 5(i), the head of expenditure for Treasury and Exchequer shall be increased by £50,000 for the purpose of a review into the funding of public services by the Parishes""; and

in the existing paragraph, for the sub-paragraph that appeared after the words "insert the words –" there should be substituted the following sub-paragraph –

", except that the Minister for Treasury and Resources is requested to work with the Minister for Infrastructure and the Comité des Connétable s and firstly agree the Terms of Reference for a review into the funding of public services by the Parishes, as agreed in the Common Strategic Policy, to carry out that work and then to bring forward any recommendations".

Members present voted as follows –

POUR: 38 CONTRE: 9 ABSTAIN: 0

Senator I.J. Gorst

Senator L.J. Farnham Senator S.C. Ferguson Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré Senator T.A. Vallois Senator K.L. Moore

Senator S.W. Pallett Connétable of St. Clement Connétable of St. Brelade Connétable of Grouville Connétable of St. John Connétable of Trinity Connétable of St. Peter Connétable of St. Mary Connétable of St. Ouen Connétable of St. Martin Deputy J.A. Martin (H) Deputy G.P. Southern (H) Deputy of Grouville

Deputy K.C. Lewis (S) Deputy M.R. Higgins (H) Deputy J.M. Maçon (S) Deputy S.J. Pinel (C) Deputy of St. Martin Deputy of St. Ouen

Deputy L.M.C. Doublet (S) Deputy R. Labey (H) Deputy S.M. Wickenden (H) Deputy of St. Mary


Senator S.Y. Mézec Connétable of St. Helier Connétable of St. Saviour Deputy M. Tadier (B) Deputy of St. John

Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat (H) Deputy S.M. Ahier (H) Deputy R.J. Ward (H) Deputy C.S. Alves (H)

Deputy G.J. Truscott (B) Deputy J.H. Young (B) Deputy L.B.E. Ash (C) Deputy K.F. Morel (L) Deputy G.C.U. Guida (L) Deputy of St. Peter Deputy of Trinity Deputy K.G. Pamplin (S) Deputy I. Gardiner (H)

THE STATES, adopting the amendment of the Connétable of St. Helier , as amended, agreed that –

in paragraph (f), after the words "Appendix 2 – Summary Tables 5(i) and (ii) of the Report" there should be inserted the words –

 ", except that, in Summary Table 5(i), the head of expenditure for Treasury and Exchequer shall be increased by £50,000 for the purpose of a review into the funding of public services by the Parishes"; and

in paragraph (j), re-designated as paragraph (m), after the words "as set out at Appendix 3 to the Report" there should be inserted the words –

", except that the Minister for Treasury and Resources is requested to work with the Minister for Infrastructure and the Comité des Connétable s and firstly agree the Terms of Reference for a review into the funding of public services by the Parishes, as agreed in the Common Strategic Policy, to carry out that work and then to bring forward any recommendations"."

Members present voted as follows –

POUR: 45  CONTRE: 1  ABSTAIN: 0 Senator I.J. Gorst   Deputy R.J. Ward (H)

Senator L.J. Farnham

Senator S.C. Ferguson

Senator T.A. Vallois

Senator K.L. Moore

Senator S.W. Pallett

Senator S.Y. Mézec

Connétable of St. Helier

Connétable of St. Clement

Connétable of St. Lawrence

Connétable of St. Saviour

Connétable of St. Brelade

Connétable of Grouville

Connétable of St. John

Connétable of Trinity

Connétable of St. Peter

Connétable of St. Mary

Connétable of St. Ouen

Connétable of St. Martin

Deputy J.A. Martin (H)

Deputy G.P. Southern (H)

Deputy of Grouville

Deputy K.C. Lewis (S)

Deputy M. Tadier (B)

Deputy M.R. Higgins (H) Deputy S.J. Pinel (C) Deputy of St. Martin Deputy of St. Ouen

Deputy L.M.C. Doublet (S) Deputy R. Labey (H) Deputy S.M. Wickenden (H) Deputy of St. Mary

Deputy G.J. Truscott (B) Deputy J.H. Young (B) Deputy L.B.E. Ash (C) Deputy K.F. Morel (L) Deputy G.C.U. Guida (L) Deputy of St. Peter

Deputy of Trinity

Deputy of St. John

Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat (H) Deputy S.M. Ahier (H) Deputy C.S. Alves (H) Deputy K.G. Pamplin (S) Deputy I. Gardiner (H)

Changes in Presidency

THE STATES re-assembled after the lunch adjournment under the Presidency of the Bailiff .

Government Plan 2021–2024 P.130/2020

THE  STATES  resumed  consideration  of  the  proposition  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  entitled Government Plan  2021–2024' (P.130/2020), as  amended, and,  adopting  an amendment  of   Deputy Montfort Tadier of St. Brelade (P.130/2020 Amd.(13)), agreed that, in paragraph (j), re-designated as paragraph (m), after the words "Appendix 3 to the Report" there should be inserted the words –

", except that, on page 62 of Appendix 3, after the words "going to these sectors in 2022." there should be inserted the following words –

"We commit to the reinstatement of funding at the agreed rate of 1% of net revenue expenditure for 2024 and beyond.".

Members present voted as follows –

POUR: 41  CONTRE: 1  ABSTAIN: 1

Senator I.J. Gorst   Connétable of St. John  Senator S.C. Ferguson Senator L.J. Farnham

Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré

Senator T.A. Vallois

Senator K.L. Moore

Senator S.W. Pallett

Senator S.Y. Mézec

Connétable of St. Helier

Connétable of St. Clement

Connétable of St. Saviour

Connétable of St. Brelade

Connétable of Grouville Connétable of St. Peter Connétable of St. Ouen Connétable of St. Martin Deputy G.P. Southern (H) Deputy of Grouville

Deputy K.C. Lewis (S) Deputy M. Tadier (B) Deputy M.R. Higgins (H) Deputy J.M. Maçon (S) Deputy S.J. Pinel (C) Deputy of St. Martin Deputy of St. Ouen

Deputy L.M.C. Doublet (S) Deputy R. Labey (H) Deputy of St. Mary

Deputy G.J. Truscott (B) Deputy J.H. Young (B) Deputy L.B.E. Ash (C) Deputy K.F. Morel (L) Deputy G.C.U. Guida (L) Deputy of St. Peter

Deputy of Trinity

Deputy of St. John

Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat (H) Deputy S.M. Ahier (H) Deputy R.J. Ward (H) Deputy C.S. Alves (H) Deputy K.G. Pamplin (S) Deputy I. Gardiner (H)

THE STATES resumed consideration of the proposition of the Council of Ministers, as amended, and rejected an amendment of Senator Samuel Yves Mézec (P.130/2020 Amd.(4)) that, after paragraph (j), re-designated as paragraph (m), there should be inserted the following new paragraph –

"(k) to agree in principle that from the year of assessment 2022 the 20% personal income tax rate

should no longer be available (except for High Value Residents, for whom no change is proposed), and personal income tax should instead be charged at a rate of 25% (with all personal income taxpayers being entitled to the allowances and reliefs which are available to marginal rate taxpayers when calculating the amount of income taxable at the rate of 25%), and to direct the Minister for Treasury and Resources to bring forward the necessary legislative changes for debate by the Assembly during 2021."

Members present voted as follows –

POUR: 8 CONTRE: 38 ABSTAIN: 0

Senator S.Y. Mézec Deputy G.P. Southern (H) Deputy M. Tadier (B) Deputy M.R. Higgins (H) Deputy L.M.C. Doublet (S) Deputy R.J. Ward (H) Deputy C.S. Alves (H) Deputy K.G. Pamplin (S)


Senator I.J. Gorst

Senator L.J. Farnham Senator S.C. Ferguson Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré Senator T.A. Vallois Senator K.L. Moore Senator S.W. Pallett Connétable of St. Helier Connétable of St. Clement

Connétable of St. Saviour Connétable of St. Brelade Connétable of Grouville Connétable of St. John Connétable of Trinity Connétable of St. Peter Connétable of St. Mary Connétable of St. Ouen Connétable of St. Martin Deputy J.A. Martin (H) Deputy of Grouville

Deputy K.C. Lewis (S) Deputy J.M. Maçon (S) Deputy S.J. Pinel (C) Deputy of St. Martin Deputy of St. Ouen

Deputy R. Labey (H) Deputy S.M. Wickenden (H) Deputy of St. Mary

Deputy G.J. Truscott (B) Deputy J.H. Young (B) Deputy L.B.E. Ash (C) Deputy K.F. Morel (L) Deputy G.C.U. Guida (L) Deputy of St. Peter

Deputy of Trinity

Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat (H) Deputy S.M. Ahier (H) Deputy I. Gardiner (H)

THE STATES resumed consideration of the proposition of the Council of Ministers, as amended. Adjournment

THE STATES adjourned, having agreed to reconvene on Thursday 17th December 2020 to continue consideration of the proposition of the Council of Ministers entitled Government Plan 2021–2024' (P.130/2020), as amended, and the other outstanding items of public business listed for the meeting.

THE STATES rose at 5.25 p.m.

DR. M. EGAN Greffier of the States