Encourage attendance at parish assemblies

WQ.163/2024

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHAIR OF THE COMITÉ DES CONNÉTABLES

BY DEPUTY C.S. ALVES OF ST. HELIER CENTRAL

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 29th APRIL 2024

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 7th MAY 2024

Question

"Will the Chair list, for each Parish, the communication and engagement (including any events held) undertaken to raise awareness of, and to encourage attendance at, Parish Assemblies, other meetings and events, and elections; indicating within this the engagement in each Parish specifically aimed at children and young people, minority groups, and those new to the Island?"

Answer

The responses from every Parish are set out below.

In relation to Parish Assemblies and elections, there are statutory requirements which are set out in the Loi (1842) sur les publications dans les Eglises, the Official Publications (Jersey) Law 1960, and in the Elections (Jersey) Law 2002. Children (under 16 years of age) and those new to the Island would not meet the criteria to be eligible to vote at Parish Assemblies and elections (a person must be 16 years of age and meet the residence criteria).

All Parish websites offer the option to receive details of News and Events direct to a mailbox. The Jersey Gazette is available online and a person may register to receive notices by email.

St Brelade

All meetings and events are advertised in accordance with the law, where applicable, and also through social and other media channels including the Parish Website, Facebook, Jersey Evening Post, the Parish magazine, posters/banners, advertising on the radio and notices in the church box to reach as many parishioners as possible.

In relation to children and young people, the Connétable and Deputies often visit schools to speak about the role of the Parish, elections and voting. The Parish also encourages future voting in the younger generations by lending its ballot boxes to schools so children/young people may practice voting at an election.

St Clement

St. Clement endeavours to connect with all age groups in all walks of life and has been very proactive, in particular, in attempting to bridge the gap with younger people and the disadvantaged.

In all of this we try to develop interest in all of our activities, markets, talks, Government outreach, community service, Parish magazine, etc. We also advertise events through social media, our own website, church, Jersey Gazette, banners and the Jersey Evening Post. But whilst we do all of the below, we recognise that reaching out to the younger generation and giving them a greater challenge and voice is a priority and we are making steady progress. To this end after the summer holidays the Connétable will launch a new concept - St. Clement Youth Community. Based on the old concept of the Young Lions Club (the LEO Club of Jersey), it will focus on Leadership, Experience and Opportunity and will encourage young people aged 14 to 21 years to join together in activities - political, community, environmental, and of course charity.

We also allow the Parish schools the use of our ballot box and booths when they hold their own elections and, with the permission of the Autorisé, they often visit our polling station on election day to get first- hand experience of the election process.

The following is a snapshot of what the Parish has achieved in relation to younger people and the disadvantaged:

1. The renting of allotments for disadvantaged families and the elderly who have no outside facilities. These are allocated by the Parish and are free to deserving Parishioners.
2. The raising of awareness of Mental Health through the provision of a discreet meeting room at the Parish Hall , in conjunction with the Tara Centre who provide free signposting for people who need specialist care (includes those with young families).
3. The takeover of a unit within the Le Clos Mourant and Le Marais Estates in conjunction with Andium Homes to provide better access for the disadvantaged of all age groups to services and information from the Parish, Charities and Government entities. This is very recent and will provide a residents' association to develop relations within the Parish and a greater pride in their environment and relationships. This will particularly help young families and the elderly.
4. Through our trusts we provide funds for many people of all ages; for young people this has included money for dental work for young teenagers, sports kits where money is tight for parents, trips to Scouts camps, travel expenses for medical reasons, Doctors and opticians fees. We focus on those in need and in particular those that have young families and are disadvantaged.
5. We have recently reached out to the four schools in the area to provide an award for a student in each school who demonstrates the best example of community based engagement.
6. We have engaged constantly with the Government to provide much more sports facilities in the east of the Island, including on estates managed by Andium Homes. In this instance we have managed to persuade Andium to re-arrange the playground in Le Clos Mourant, this in conjunction with the new residents' association. We attempted to get the new Infrastructure Minister to consider a new skate park in Le Marais. Whilst this was not adopted, we now know that in lobbying Andium about upgrading the current aged playground at Le Marais, they have now submitted a plan for major upgrade. We provide £21,000 from our Parish towards the Le Squez youth club. And we are looking into providing a small playground at the back of the Parish Hall .
7. With our Battle of Flowers volunteers, we have re-established a junior float which has a great many youngsters helping the build through the summer holidays.
8. Through our close association with St. Clement Football Club, who have over 400 footballers of all ages 75% of whom are from difficult social backgrounds, we have managed to help raise funds, increase awareness and promote extensions to their facilities.

Grouville

The Parish uses a variety of means to raise awareness for everyone, and not just a specific social groups.

All meetings and events are publicised with notices of Parish Assemblies and elections meeting the statutory requirements as well as through other media.

Meetings and events considered to be of high public interest, for example the annual Rates Assembly, recycling proposals/issues, Parish Hall roof repairs, etc. are further publicised in the classifieds in the Jersey Evening Post, as well as notices placed around key areas of the Parish, such as Holme Grown and on lamp posts.

A summary of the methods used is:

• Facebook

• Parish website

• Jersey Gazette

• Parish magazine

• Digital notice board display in the Parish Hall

• Jersey Evening Post

• Other notices as appropriate

The Parish has assisted the school by loaning the ballot box for school elections and the Connétable has spoken to different year groups in several schools about the Parish, elections and voting.

St Helier

The Parish of St Helier aims its communications at all groups. It encourages attendance of all parishioners at Parish Assemblies and elections by advertising the details on the Church Notice Board, the Parish website, the Government online Jersey Gazette, and the Parish Facebook page. Both the online Jersey Gazette and Parish website have a sign-up facility, so members of the public can receive automatic notifications of Assemblies and elections.

With the introduction of the Jersey Electoral Commission, communications for Deputies and the Connétable elections are now coordinated and controlled by the Government's Communications Unit. Prior to this a Parish representative attended Parish Secondary Schools to encourage those of 16 years of age to register and vote.

The Parish on occasion has lent its ballot boxes to schools, so they can experience running their own elections. On election day, two of the Parish Polling Stations are situated at primary schools, and groups of students have attended the polling station to learn about the election process.

The Parish held Assemblies using an online webinar for over two years; whilst there was take up during the Covid lockdown, it quickly dissipated once the public were able to return to the Town Hall .

Parish Deputies have not initiated any activities or events in conjunction with the Parish, however, this response does not include details of any actions or activities that Parish Deputies may have undertaken on their own initiative and without Parish involvement.

St John

As well as the legally required ways of advertising our Parish Assemblies and Electoral meetings – the Jersey Gazette and Church Box – we also use the following platforms: Facebook, X, Instagram. The Parish Assembly notices are also published on the Parish of St John website. A letter-drop is made to every residential address in the Parish to raise awareness of, and to encourage attendance at, Parish Assemblies, other meetings and events, and elections – this is aimed at all parishioners regardless age, length of residence etc.

On Polling Days, the Parish Primary School and Youth Groups – including the Youth Project and local Brownie Pack - are invited to attend and be part of the day. Pupils from the School were in attendance when the Ballot Box was sealed by our Jurat on the last General Election.

For the last three years the School Council Elections for St John's Primary School have been held in the Parish Hall . This involved setting up a Polling Station in the same format as a General Election, with pupils obtaining ballot papers from Adjoints which included some of our Constituency Deputies, casting their votes in the polling booth and placing them in the sealed ballot box. They were then able to witness the count' with the results being announced by Le Connétable . This has proved to be a very successful and interesting day, encouraging lots of interest from the pupils ranging from Year 1 to Year 6.

St Lawrence

For Parish Assemblies, we comply with the requirements to advertise all Assemblies in the Jersey Gazette, as well as in the Church Notice Box. Our other sources of communication are the Parish website and Facebook page and whenever possible, the Parish magazine. We also put physical notices in the Parish Hall and for those who have signed up to receive emails by registering on the Parish Website and of course word of mouth.

We use the same sources of communication for other Parish meetings and events.

Parish Assemblies are, by their very nature, generally not specifically aimed at any particular demographic, however, children, young people, minority groups or those new to the Island, are welcome to attend all events*.

As such, we also try to encourage young people to register to vote when they apply for a Provisional Driving Licence [very often at the age of 16].

We loan our ballot boxes to the two Parish Primary Schools for their elections to School Council, when St Lawrence School use the Parish Hall to undertake their voting process. The Connétable is present for that and addresses each year group about the process and importance of elections.

The Connétable has also been to St Lawrence School to discuss elections and speak to Year 5 about the importance of democracy.

On Election Day we invite pupils from St Lawrence School to view the Polling Station and meet the Jurat to ask any questions at that time. They have attended for the sealing of the ballot box.

* In the case of a Parish Assembly, they would not be entitled to vote unless they were registered.

St Martin

During Democracy Week, the Connétable attended St. Martin Primary School and spoke to the whole school about the importance of democracy, voting, Parish Assemblies and accessing your elected member to have your voice heard.

The children in St. Martin Primary have lived experience of having their voice heard as they were instrumental in the design of the new playground. A pupil from the school officially opened the playground and all those in Year 3 attended. It was good to hear that, when interviewed, some of them told the media with great authority that they had personally designed the playground.

St Martin's primary school also stage school elections and voting sessions which are attended by the Connétable .

In the Autumn Term, Connétable s were asked to attend the Jersey College for Girls for a day of PHSE (personal, social and health education) to talk to pupils about democracy. Three Connétable s attended during the day – the Connétable s of St Martin, St John and Grouville . Amongst other thing this was to emphasise the importance of registering to vote and voting. It was heartening that some students actually registered to vote during the talks.

The Connétable meets people of all ages and will often mention or talk about the importance of voting.

Notices of Parish Assemblies, Parish Elections, Parish meetings and events are publicised on the following media:

• Online Gazette

• Parish Facebook page

• Parish website

• Parish Noticeboard

• Local media (Jersey Evening Post & radio)

• Parish Magazine – Parish Rates and end of year accounts Assembly date

The engagement of these events is aimed at all members of the general public – all ages and backgrounds.

St Mary

Parish Assemblies are advertised:

1. in the boîte grille' and Jersey Gazette notice as required by Law
2. circulated to the municipality' email mailing list
3. on notice boards outside the Parish Hall and in the two bus stops
4. on the Parish Website
5. on the Parish Facebook page
6. for the forthcoming Rates' Parish Assembly, we sent a flyer out with the most recent Parish magazine advising the date of the Parish Assembly
7. before Easter we promoted a competition through Facebook to encourage people to sign up to the Parish website, so that they would receive notifications of Parish events.

Other events are advertised:

• on notice boards outside the Parish Hall and in the two bus stops

• on the Parish Facebook page

• on the Parish website

The Community Update (from GoJ local services manager) is circulated to all the clubs and societies for which we have email mailing lists.

The Parish does not do anything specifically aimed at children and young people, or minority groups or people new to the Island.

The Youth & Community Centre publicises certain events likely to appeal to people on its mailing lists.

St Ouen

In St Ouen we try not to discriminate and do not target specific groups of Parishioners. We direct all communication to all Parishioners, regardless of age, minority groups or time in the Parish/Island.

We try to advertise all events on social media including Facebook, the online Jersey Gazette and the Parish website.

At past elections, we have involved children from Les Landes primary school and invited them to attend the Parish Hall on election day.

St Peter

All Parish Assemblies, nomination meetings and any public meetings are advertised via the online Jersey Gazette, the Church Notice box, the Parish Website and the St Peter Facebook page.

Dependent on the content of the meeting, a decision is made whether to advertise in the Jersey Evening Post due to costs involved.

Through these avenues, young people can sign up to the Parish website pages to receive notifications of any meetings.

The St Peter's Youth Club have also been invited to hold Assemblies aimed at children, young people, minority groups etc. to encourage attendance to the meetings.

It is down to an individual to choose to attend these events.

St Saviour  

The Parish uses a range of media to communicate with all parishioners. These include:

• Online Jersey Gazette notice

• Jersey Evening Post

• Parish Website

• Parish Facebook

• Church Box

• Parish Magazine

• Flyers on reception (Events)

• Postal Letters (Elections)

The above engagements are aimed at Parishioners in general, not specific groups.

Trinity :

Communication of Electoral and Parish Assemblies

Engagement with parishioners includes publishing formal notices in the Church Box, the online Jersey Gazette and the Parish website (Parishioners can subscribe to receive notice of all events and news directly to their inboxes). Informal communication of Electoral Assemblies and Parish Assemblies include publishing notices on Instagram and Facebook.

Elections of Honorary Officers take place at either Electoral or Parish Assemblies. Any individual registered to vote can vote at either meeting. Trinity is proud to have representation from five different ethnic groups amongst its Honorary Officers.

Communication of Parish meetings

Parish meetings occur very infrequently as they are not decision making forums. A Parish meeting was held in 2023 and notification of the meeting included the Parish website, Instagram and Facebook, a letter drop to each home in the Parish, publication in the Parish magazine (delivered to each home in the Parish) and the use of local media. The Trinity Climate Change Group meets on a monthly basis and one member of the Group is a child of approximately 12 years old.

Events

Forthcoming events are communicated through the Parish website, Instagram, Facebook, the Parish magazine and Parish newsletter (the latter two are delivered to each home in the Parish). The Parish primary school is regularly invited to attend events at the Parish, including lent lunches, Remembrance Services and coffee mornings.

By communicating in the many forms detailed above, the Parish aims to engage with young people, all ethnicities and those new to the Parish.