How many boats were damaged by vandals at the Elizabeth Marina on 6th and 7th March 2009 the estimated cost of that damage and what action has been taken to ensure this cannot happen again

2.14  The Deputy of St. John of the Minister  for Economic Development regarding boats damaged by vandals at Elizabeth Marina on 6th and 7th March 2009:

Would the Minister advise the Assembly how many boats were damaged by vandals at the Elizabeth Marina on the night of 6th and 7th March 2009, the estimated cost of that damage and what action, if any, has been taken to ensure this cannot happen again?

Senator A.J.H. Maclean (The Minister for Economic Development):

Could I ask my Assistant Minister who has responsibility for the harbour to answer the question?

The Deputy of St. John

On a point of order, I put the question to the Minister. The Deputy Bailiff :

It has been customary, I think, for the Minister for Economic Development to allow the Minister who has responsibility for the harbour to answer.

The Deputy of St. John : When he is in the Chamber? The Deputy Bailiff :

Yes, it has been practice. The Deputy of St. John :

On a point of order, I believe that there was a consensus that if the questioner wished the Minister to answer the question, we had agreed - or at least, there was a ruling, I believe - that the questioner could put it to the Minister if he wished to.

The Deputy Bailiff :

Do you wish to insist that it be answered by the Minister, Deputy ? The Deputy of St. John :

Yes, Sir, given that I have been pulled up several times for not getting standing orders right, I felt it is time that I tried to get it right.

The Deputy Bailiff :

Yes, Minister, if you would answer the question then. Senator A.J.H. Maclean:

I was waiting for the Deputy to take his seat again. Right, I am told that 54 boats were damaged during the incident that the Deputy is referring to. I might add that I am delighted to note that his own boat was not damaged in the incident, which is good news. We have not been advised of the total cost of the damage caused during the event. We are waiting for the results of the police investigation. Jersey Harbours will continue to manage, as best, the problems of youths congregating at the harbour. However, this is a wider social issue and cannot be managed by the port alone.

2.14.1  The Deputy of St. John :

Firstly, for clarification, my own vessel is not in that marina and the Minister knows very well that it is not because he has attended St. Helier Marina with me. That said, could we be told as to whether or not all the security cameras on the night of this particular occurrence were in operation, how many security officers were on duty and what training the security officers have?

Senator A.J.H. Maclean:

There are a numbers of questions there. On the night in question, I understand that there were 2 cameras which had limited functionality. The remaining cameras were operational. There was one camera that was not operating, sorry, 2 with limited functionality and the rest were operational. As far as the number of security staff on duty that particular evening, I do not have the exact numbers to hand but I am more than prepared to supply those to the Deputy in due course. I would say that they are professional security staff that do carry out security on the waterfront as a whole and we do have a great deal of confidence in the services that they fulfil.

The Deputy of St. John :

A supplementary, Sir.

The Deputy Bailiff :

I am afraid the time has run out. The Deputy of St. John :

Sir,  you allowed the Minister for Housing to continually talk himself out of the question and yet, when we are trying to put supplementaries to get information out of the Ministers who do not want to answer, you cut me short at the knees, Sir.

The Deputy Bailiff :

I recall you suggesting your knees were in danger on a previous occasion. The position is that I entirely sympathise with what you say about the length of answers and it is incumbent upon Ministers to be as brief as possible and, if it gets too long, I will stop them but it has to be a judgment call eventually as to being given sufficient time to answer but not too much. As to the time, I am afraid the time has expired.

Deputy T.M. Pitman:

Sir, I was about to propose, could we consider extending the session to get the questions answered?

The Deputy Bailiff :

What are you proposing?

Deputy T.M. Pitman:

I propose suspending Standing Orders. The Deputy of St. Martin :

Could we propose suspending Standing Orders to enable the last 4 questions to be asked this morning?

The Deputy Bailiff :

Very well. The Deputy of St. Martin is proposing that Standing Orders be suspended so that the last 4 questions can be answered. Is that seconded?  [Seconded]

Deputy M. Tadier : Can I speak on this? The Deputy Bailiff :

No, I think it is a very simple matter really, Deputy , that people either want to extend the time or not. We cannot have a debate about a matter like that, so the appel has been called for and I invite Members to return to their seats. The matter is for or against the proposition of the Deputy of St. Martin to extend the period by suspending Standing Orders.

Deputy G.P. Southern :

May I remind Ministers that were due to answer that the convention is that they do circulate answers widely to all Members of the House.

The Deputy of St. John :

On that particular point, if I may raise an issue, they do circulate the Members of the House but the media should also be circulated with those answers, Sir.

The Deputy Bailiff :

It is a matter for consideration by Ministers. There is nothing in Standing Orders obviously about that at the moment, so I do not think it is a matter for the Chair.

Deputy M. Tadier :

Sir, the reason I wanted to speak earlier is just to clarify that when the answers are circulated - and I hope this can be confirmed by the Chair - the answers that we

receive are not covered by parliamentary privilege and that is what I wanted to

mention before. It may have affected the way people vote so when the answers are circulated, they will not be covered by parliamentary privilege as they are in the Chamber.  Can you confirm that is the case, Sir?

The Deputy Bailiff :

I would have thought that is probably the case, yes, although if you want a firm ruling, I would have to look into it but I would imagine that is the case.

The Deputy of St. Martin :

Sir, can I, on behalf of those who would like to see the extension on the question of time this morning, thank the Connétable of St. Lawrence for giving us support. We did note the Connétable did and the rest did not.