PPC Political Awareness and Education Sub-Committee - 27th October 2022

Privileges and Procedures Committee Political Awareness and Education Sub-Committee (2nd Meeting )

27th October 2022

Part A (Non-Exempt)

All members were present with the exception of Connétable M.A Labey of Grouville , and Deputy L.K.F. Stephenson from St Mary, St Ouen and St Peter from whom apologies had been received.

Deputy C.A. Alves of St Helier

Deputy C. F. Labey of Grouville and St Martin Deputy R. L. Kovacs of St Helier

Deputy M. B. Andrews of St Helier

Deputy I. Gardiner of St Helier

Deputy R. Ward of St Helier

In attendance -

Ms M. Jehan , Education Manager

Ms K. Boydens , Principal Committee and Panel Officer Ms K. Camara, Research and Project Officer

Note: The Minutes of this meeting comprise Part A

Terms of A1. The Sub-Committee reviewed the Terms of Reference and made a number of Reference. amendments including:

• The Sub-Committee agreed that it should be named the Political Awareness and Education Sub-Committee'. It was agreed that the Privileges and Procedures Committee would be notified of the change and the website would be updated.

• In addition to the stakeholders already listed in the Terms of Reference the Sub- Committee agreed to add the School Council Network; Minister for International Development and Island Identity Forum; States Greffe (Digital and Public Engagement); The Bailiff and any other groups where relevant'.

• In relation to the induction programme, the Sub-Committee agreed to add a section ensuring information about the States Assembly was included in any induction for public sector staff.

• The Sub-Committee agreed to add in a point to directly engage with young people and a goal to develop a programme or curriculum to include in all schools.

The Sub-Committee agreed to approve the Terms of Reference once the above adaptions had been made.

Democracy A2. The Sub-Committee received a verbal update from the Education Manager Week 2022. regarding Democracy Week 2022. The Education Manager informed the Sub-

Committee about the 22 events and 9 visits to schools that took place. It was noted that approximately 600 students were engaged during the events which had led to a number of additional schools seeking similar engagement - for example, Victoria College had requested a Q&A session be set up with four States Members for their students.

The Sub-Committee suggested organising the events for Democracy Week as early as

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July in order to provide more lead in and preparation time for schools. The Sub- Committee also suggested that engagement with CYPES was undertaken as early possible when events were organised in schools which would prevent duplication or overwhelming schools with multiple events at any one time. In that regard, Deputy Gardiner suggested that the Education Manager could be added to all calendar invites from CYPES regarding school visits and events.

The Sub-Committee also discussed the opportunity to develop Democracy Week with Children, Young People, Education and Skills Services (CYPES') by adding it into the curriculum for schools to plan learning opportunities centred around Democracy Week each year, which would create a sense of consistency on the subject matter.

In relation to Member presence at events in schools, the Sub-Committee agreed that diary invites were the best way to confirm attendance with Members. Information regarding scheduled events in schools could also be shared on the All States Members Microsoft Teams Channel.

The Sub-Committee agreed that it would be beneficial for schools to have sight of all planned events in order to generate interest and possibly participation. For example, the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly was due to be hosted in Jersey in May 2023 which could be an opportunity for young people to be involved in.

The Education Manager updated the Sub-Committee on the success and learnings of the town centre stands which had taken place during Democracy Week. One measure which would be taken forward in the organisation of future stands was to ensure that more than one Member was involved at any one-time including officer support. This would ensure that there was time to take the details of members of the public who wished  to  have  more  in-depth  discussions  with  Members.  The  Sub-Committee suggested that leaflets were available to the public which could include information on constituency surgeries.

The Education Manager finalised her verbal update by providing information on the tours of the States Chamber during Democracy Week. The Sub-Committee noted that 40 members of the public had visited the States Chamber over 5 tours during the week.

Engagement  A3. The Sub-Committee received a copy of a PowerPoint presentation which had with the  previously been presented to the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC') by electorate.  Professor Chris Pich of Nottingham University.

The Sub-Committee noted that Professor Pich had undertaken a study entitled A huge political experiment – exploring the Political Brand Positioning of political parties in Jersey from an internal-external perspective' which explored Jersey's political system and  the  positioning  and  perceptions  of  political  parties  from  a  multi-stakeholder perspective.

Phase one of the study had focussed on the perspective of party members from all 4 parties and phase two had focused on young voters and young voter engagement. Professor Pich had identified four main themes from the study:

1. Consistent desire for change
2. Gaps between identity and image
3. Ineffective strategies and tactics
4. Aspiration for engagement

The Chair explained that Professor Pich was currently drafting a number of articles for academic journals based on the study, but he had also offered to draft a number of

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practical reports and guides which could be used by States Members or prospective candidates to improve communications between politicians and voters.

In terms of research partnerships, the Chair explained that a project was currently being undertaken with the Digital and Public Engagement (D&PE) section at the States Greffe on the voter journey including experience and engagement ahead of the 2026 General Election. This would include a number of focus groups to be held in November 2022 which would be led by Professor Pich and supported by D&PE.

The Sub-Committee agreed that Professor Pich should be invited to attend a meeting so that it could learn more about the research projects being undertaken.

A4. The Sub-Committee received a paper regarding Automatic Voter Registration Automatic  which provided an overview of the events that had occurred since the project was started Voter  and work undertaken since 2016. The Sub-Committee was advised that PPC had agreed Registration.  that the Sub-Committee could take the lead on the project.

In that regard, the Sub-Committee noted that the current status of the project was that a letter was due to be sent to the Chief Executive of the Government of Jersey for an update on the project. The Sub-Committee agreed that it would discuss the project in due course once a response had been received.

Future  A5. The Sub-Committee agreed that the next meeting would take place on 1st December Meetings.  at 13:00pm. The Sub-Committee also agreed that it would hold its first meeting of 2023

on 26th January at 14:00pm.