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21.06.29
8 Deputy J.M. Maçon of the Chair of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure
Scrutiny Panel regarding cats legislation (OQ.149/2021):
Will the chair state when the terms of reference for the review of the Draft Road Traffic (No. 68) (Jersey) Regulations 202- (P.39/2021) – a.k.a. the cat protection legislation - will be published, and inform Members whether all members of his panel supported the decision to scrutinise the legislation prior to the regulations being referred under Standing Order 72?
The Connétable of St. Brelade (Chair, Environment, Housing and Infrastructure
Scrutiny Panel):
I thank the Deputy for his question and his continued interest in this subject. The panel will be conducting a short Scrutiny review with the intention of producing a comments paper ahead of the revised debate of 5th October. As such, it is not intended for this to be scoped as a full Scrutiny review with terms of reference. With regards to the second part of the question, prior to the debate - the night before at my regular Parish police meeting - I had had feedback from Centeniers regarding the policeability of the proposed law. As such, I invited my other Scrutiny Panel members for their views with regard to calling it in for further consideration. I am happy to repeat what I told them, which is basically that: "I have had feedback from Centeniers at last Monday's police meeting regarding the ability to police this proposed law, which seems to have several holes in it. I am thinking that in the light of this we ought to call it in for a review. Let me know if you have strong feelings against this." Three of the panel members responded in the affirmative, 2 did not respond, and with me that made 4 for calling it in; with 2 not responding I presumed they had no strong feelings against.
5.8.1 Deputy J.M. Maçon:
I am sure, as the chair will know, the petitioners who brought this proposition are keen to engage in the Scrutiny process but without a terms of reference it makes it very difficult for them to know exactly what they should do. I wonder if the chair could provide any further clarity of what the concerns of the Scrutiny Panel are so that the petitioners are able to participate in the Scrutiny process.
The Connétable of St. Brelade :
The objective is to meet with the Comité des Chef de Police and listen to their concerns and then to meet with the Equal Rights for Cats Action Group to hear their views. We shall also be liaising with the Minister for Infrastructure on the concerns raised and with any further questioning in due course. The review is being publicised on the States Assembly website enabling members of the public and interested parties to follow and/or engage with our work should they wish to do so.