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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY DEPUTY J.M. MAÇON OF ST. SAVIOUR
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 29th APRIL 2014
Question
Would the Minister explain why the preliminary Tourism Shadow Board report was not presented to the Assembly as a Report and whether he will request that the Board's processes are amended so that any further reports are formally presented by the Minister on behalf of the Board and, if not, why not?
Answer
The States Assembly approved P.113/2012 establishing a Tourism Shadow Board (TSB). The remit of the TSB, which is an advisory body with no executive power, is to make recommendations to me as the Minister for Economic Development, consistent with the terms of reference set out in P.113/2012.
In early March 2014, the TSB submitted its preliminary report addressing the first matter to be considered under the Terms of Reference, namely:
..To define the optimum operational and governance structure and make a recommendation to the Minister to implement changes as necessary'
On 17th March 2014 I wrote to the Chair of the TSB, thanking the Board for its report and requesting that, whilst I accepted the broad principles outlined in the document, any final decision would be based on a detailed business case and implementation plan. On Friday 21st March 2014, with my approval, the Chairman of the Tourism Shadow Board presented the Board's Preliminary Report on the optimal structure of tourism in Jersey to the industry at Jersey Hospitality Association's AGM. The Preliminary Report is publicly available and has been widely reported upon.
With regard to any amendment to the Terms of Reference of the TSB; the TSB, established by the States Assembly following approval of P113/2012, is an advisory Board to the Minister for Economic Development I see no need to change this arrangement as I am fully accountable to the States Assembly for any decisions taken. Seeking to amend P.113/2012 will unnecessarily divert the attentions of my Department and the TSB from the important work being undertaken to return Jersey's tourism sector to sustained growth.