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WRITTEN QUESTION TO MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY DEPUTY R.G. LE HÉRISSIER OF ST. SAVIOUR
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 5th MARCH 2013
Question
What targets, if any, are in place for 2013 to speed up the revocation of bulk' licences for employment and could the Minister identify the numerical reductions planned and the sectors to which they apply?
Answer
The new Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law, 2012 - which will significantly improve the ability to vary licences for local employment - is the responsibility of the Chief Minister. It is not therefore for the Economic Development Minister to set targets in relation to the new Law.
However, I take a view, with colleagues on the Migration Advisory Group, including the Assistant Chief Minister as Chair, that underutilised non locally qualified licence capacity should be significantly reduced in 2013 to near to nil. It is therefore vitally important that the new Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law, 2012, is brought into effect as soon as possible.
At the same time, it is not appropriate to set firm targets for the total number of non-locally qualified licences, as each case should be considered on its own merits, reflecting the different constraints faced by each business in its endeavours to find suitable staff.
Indeed, we must remember that local employment is created and safeguarded by private businesses, and it is not in our interests to act in a manner that is detrimental to those businesses. Under the Economic Growth and Diversification Strategy, the focus of Economic Development Department's activity is to establish and support high value, high growth businesses. As such it is important that there is the flexibility to allow the Migration Advisory Group to allocate licences where necessary to attract the necessary skills to enable these businesses to deliver employment growth for locally qualified people.