The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
WQ.420/2019
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER
BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. MARTIN ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 8th OCTOBER 2019
Question
Will the Chief Minister –
- provide a breakdown of the structure of the Government of Jersey and advise which areas of the Government, if any, continue to be referred to as the States of Jersey (indicating whether or not this is done exclusively or in addition to being referred to as the Government of Jersey); and
- advise whether or not any additional work will be undertaken on clarifying the distinction between these two terms?
Answer
In February 2019 the Council of Ministers adopted "Government of Jersey" as the official identity for the Executive and administrative departments, both in the island and overseas. The Council also agreed to adopt the Jèrriais "Gouvèrnément d'Jèrri" parallel identity where appropriate.
All entities outside of the Executive and administrative departments including the States Assembly and scrutiny functions, Law Officers' Department, and all entities named States of Jersey [Entity] in law continue to use the "States of Jersey" nomenclature, including:
States of Jersey States Assembly
States of Jersey Ambulance Service
States of Jersey Customs and Immigration Service States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service
States of Jersey Police Service
States of Jersey Prison Service
The reasoning for the change was communicated publicly at the time the decision was made and provides a clear timeline and rationale:
Before the States of Jersey Law 2005, the States of Jersey was the legal entity encompassing both the Legislature (the States Assembly) and the Executive (government and public administration). Until this point, under Committee-led government, the Assembly, government and administrative departments were all within the same legal body, the States of Jersey.
The 2005 reforms, which created Ministerial government, separated the Executive and administrative departments from the Legislature in law. However, the States of Jersey' continued to be used as the identity for both the government and the States Assembly, and it remains part of the official name of the States Assembly today.
In July 2014, the Council of Ministers adopted the Government of Jersey' identity for use by Ministers in business cards, official correspondence and for use overseas, although in Jersey the government and administrative departments continued to use the States of Jersey identity.
The wider adoption of the Government of Jersey identity by this Council of Ministers earlier this year, therefore, now reflects the constitutional decisions taken by the States Assembly in 2005.
It is also worth noting that in March 2018, the States Assembly approved the P.1 Machinery of Government Law 2018, such that the executive itself would be reformed to create the Government of Jersey' as a single legal entity for Ministers and administrative functions. The status of this work is outlined in WQ.417/2019.
The attached infographic was also published at the time the change was implemented. No additional communications exercise is currently planned to distinguish between the two entities.
Cost of Producing Answer The cost was negligible