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2019.03.12
14 Deputy S.M. Wickenden of the Chief Minister regarding publication of the
consolidated list of ministerial responsibilities under Article 30A of the States of Jersey Law 2005: [OQ.58/2019]
When will the Chief Minister publish the consolidated list showing the functions discharged by him, those discharged by each Minister and those which have been delegated to other Ministers, as required under Article 30A of the States of Jersey Law 2005?
Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré (The Chief Minister):
The Deputy will have seen that we have moved political responsibilities in a number of areas in the last few weeks so now that has been done, the full list of responsibilities will be published before the end of next month.
- Deputy S.M. Wickenden:
I know that things are moving around, but let us go back where the Attorney General earlier stated, the law states "the Chief Minister shall", it does not say "may", "could", it says "shall" and that is a definitive, which means that we are already 6 months in and we do not have these lists. Now, they should be fluid, as things are moving, but it is not fair on anyone, certainly Back-Benchers, to not know who is responsible for what, because it hinders our work. Will the Chief Minister get this list done earlier? We have a new Member in the Assembly, who would like to know who is in charge of what so the Member can ask questions. Waiting until the end of the month is not good enough anymore, we have waited long enough.
Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré:
I just said "will" be published; that is the same as "shall".
- Deputy S.M. Wickenden:
"Will" is great that you are saying it will be a definitive, but it should have already been done because the law says "shall", which means it already should have happened.
Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré:
I am not an English teacher and there are other people far more qualified than me to discuss this. As far as I understand it, "will" and "shall" are interchangeable, give or take. "Should" is different and, as the Member will understand, there have been some changes that we needed to consider properly; that is about aligning priorities and getting responsibilities in the right place and, as I said, there are decisions that were signed to achieve all that over the last few weeks. That means now the list can be updated and will be with Members by the end of next month.