Constitution of the Jersey Police Authority when will steps be taken to fill the vacant postion of chairman

1240/5(1797)

QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE HOME AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ON TUESDAY 4th MARCH 2003, BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. MARTIN

Question

1. W i thregardto Part E,page 9 oftheConstitutionof the States of Jersey, otherwise referred to as the green sheets', last printed on7th February 2003, and which page refers to the constitution oftheJersey Police Authority, will the President advise members regarding –

(a ) t he position of the Chairman of the Jersey Police Authority, which appears to have been vacant since

the retirement of the last Chairman in the Summer of 2001, and the steps taken since that time to appoint a replacement chairman, and when an appointment is likely to be made?

(b) th e position of the two members of the Jersey Police Authority,

 appointed from the Home Affairs Committee, and the two members from the Comité des Connétable s, which appear to be vacant, and the reasons for the delays ? and,

(c )

the position of the two Independent Members of the Jersey Police Authority, which appear to be vacant since the

expiry of the term of office of the previous Members on 31st August 2002, and when appointments will be made in this respect?

Answer

1. T h e position ofChairmanof the Jersey Police Authority remains vacant. Members will beawareofthe great difficulties that have been experiencedin finding a personof the right calibre whois willing to take on the post ofChairman with responsibility for moving the Authority forward. Sincethelastpermanent Chairman retired, there have been two recruiting campaigns to identify willing volunteers. The first produced two suitable candidates as lay members, neither ofwhom was willing to take on the role of Chairman. A subsequentcampaign in June 2002 resulted in nointerestwhatsoever.Outside of these campaigns,theCommittee has sought, without success, to identify a suitable person whomightwantto take on the post. Eventually, an excellent candidatedidcome forward lastautumnofhisownvolition. Havingcarriedout his own enquiries into the role of the JerseyPolice Authority and the responsibilities of the post, he remained unconvinced that the establishment of a PoliceAuthority,as envisaged by P.49/1998, wasnecessary.Consequently, although wishingto actively maintain his interest in policing matters, he did not wish to pursue nomination for the post ofChairman.He reached theseconclusionslast autumn in the run up to the elections. Sincetheformationof the presentHome Affairs Committee in December2002,newmembershaveundertakenan induction processwhichincluded briefing on the difficulties experienced hitherto with the establishmentof a Jersey Police Authority. I shall explain the steps that the Committee will now take intheanswer to Question 2.
2. It will beapparenttoMembers that the activities ofthe Jersey PoliceAuthorityhave been dormantfor some time.TheHome Affairs Committee has yetto nominate twomembersfor reasons which will becomeclear in theanswer to Question 2.ConstableAmyandConstable Vibert , who is also the Vice- President of the Home Affairs Committee, are the current sitting members of the Jersey Police Authority but their continued appointments would need to be approved bytheStatesassuming that they wished to continue asmembers.
3. T h ere are twoprospectiveIndependentMemberswhosenamescouldbeputforwardfor approval by the States and,again, I shallcover the timing ofthese appointments inmyanswerto Question 2.

Question 2

On 19th May 1998, the States approved the establishment of a Jersey Police Authority which has yet to be

established by law.

(a ) W i l l the President give the reasons for the delay in its legal establishment, and,

(b) will the President advise members of the steps the Committee will be taking to ensure that the Jersey Police Authority is functioning not only in accordance with the recommendations contained in P. 184/1996 – Police Services in Jersey: independent review', adopted by the States on 5th November 1996, but also in accordance with P. 49/1998 as amended.

Answer

1. T h ere are three principal reasons for the delay in the Police Authority's legal establishment and these have all been reported tothe States on a previous occasion.Firstly,it lost its Chairman,Mr.Rumboll,dueto illness. This wasat a critical time in the developmentof measures to give the Jersey Police Authority legal identity and it has suffered from the loss of continuity ever since and the inability to find another Chairman. Secondly,theAuthority's project officer left the post a year ago but the previous Committee was reluctant to recruit a replacement,mainlyon the groundsofcost,until the positionofChairmanhad been resolved. Thirdly, the task of achieving legal establishment is more formidable than was first realised withover fifty pieces ofprimary legislation needingto be altered.
2. T h e new Home Affairs Committee is determined to see that the problems that have beset the Jersey Police Authority are resolved as soonas possible. The Committee needs to take stock of the reasons for the delay given inmy previous answer, in particular the likelihood that thetaskin setting uptheJerseyPolice Authority wasunder-estimated at the outsetand that insufficient resources were devoted to it. Time has moved onsince the States resolved to establish a Jersey Police Authorityand I believe, therefore, that the Committee alsohastoconsideran Authority inthecontextof a Ministerialsystemofgovernment.These are important issues which require careful thought bymembers.To inform that debate, I have askedfor a position paper to be prepared for the Committee's consideration next month. Shortly after, I will undertake to bring a report to the States outlining proposalsfor the way forward.