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29
WQ.127/2020
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY M. TADIER OF ST. BRELADE
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 9th MARCH 2020
Question
When a Minister or Assistant Minister either steps aside from their Ministerial duties or is suspended from those duties, do they still have access to the Government of Jersey offices in Broad Street; if so, will the Chief Minster explain why; and will he state whether any such policy has been applied consistently in all cases?
Answer
Under the current Government and since the move to the Broad Street Offices in Q1 2019, there have been two cases where Ministers have either stepped-aside or suspended. In the first instance, an Assistant Minister copied a Government of Jersey employee in to an email chain in which he called upon the individual to be sacked. The second case is ongoing and where an Assistant Minister voluntarily stepped- aside from his duties until a court verdict is reached on a charge brought against him.
In the first instance, as confirmed to the Assistant Minister, the Council of Ministers, and the Chairman of PCC by letter on 29 March 2019, the Assistant Minister was suspended as an Assistant Minister and from any duties. As such, his access to Broad Street was removed.
In the second case, the Assistant Minister has voluntarily stepped-aside from his duties, until a verdict is reached in a charge brought against him. Whilst he is not discharging any responsibilities as an Assistant Minister, he has not been suspended from the post. As such, he continues to have access to Broad Street.
The policy has therefore been applied consistently.
Since the introduction of Ministerial Government, any decision to suspend a Minister or Assistant Minister has been taken outside of a formal statutory framework. During 2020, the Chief Minister intends to bring forward an amendment to the States of Jersey Law which will address this lacuna and provide a statutory basis for the suspension of Ministers and Assistant Ministers, and thereby bringing greater clarity to this area.