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Scrutiny Office
Senator Lyndon Farnham
Minister for Economic Development, Sport and Culture Cyril Le Marquand House
The Parade
St. Helier
JE4 8UL
6 August 2018 Dear Minister
Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel Retail Policy Review
I write to inform you that the Economic Affairs Panel has agreed to undertake a Scrutiny Review in respect of Retail Policy in Jersey.
The terms of reference for the review are as follows:
- To identify the current challenges and opportunities facing Jersey's retail sector.
- Assess the current value of the retail sector to the island in term of its economic, social and environmental impacts.
- To assess what the current policies, strategies and initiatives of the Minister for Economic Development are and whether these are fit for purpose.
- To follow up on past accepted recommendations of the previous Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel in relation to its retail policy review.
- To determine what effect the 20% tax on retail profits above £500,000 has had on the retail sector.
- To assess the role of out-of-town retail areas and the impact they have on local parish communities.
We note that a review on Retail Policy was undertaken by a previous Economic Affairs Panel in 2014 (S.R.6/2014). We would like to follow up on the accepted recommendations of this review and in that regard would be grateful to receive a summary of actions taken to implement the accepted recommendations. Ideally we would like to receive this update, in writing, before Friday 31st August.
From our preliminary research, we note that your Department published a Retail Framework in 2006, which was updated in 2010. It appears that the Retail Policy has not been updated since 2010 nor has there been an update to the Jersey Retail Business Development Strategy since 2013 - which also appears to be unavailable in the public domain. We would welcome an update, in writing, on this work to bring us up to speed on the Department's current policy and any plans to update it. We would also welcome any documents/background papers you have on file regarding this topic including the Jersey Retail Business Development Strategy 2013. Ideally we would like to receive this information before Friday 31st August.
My Scrutiny Officer will be in touch with your Department about arrangements for a Public Hearing in due course.
In terms of our public engagement plans, we intend to invite submissions from relevant stakeholders and we will publicise our review so that members of the public can submit information or views.
We look forward to working with you and thank you in advance for your assistance on this issue. Yours sincerely
Deputy Kirsten Morel
Chairman
Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel
Scrutiny Office | States Greffe | Morier House | St Helier | Jersey | JE1 1DD Tel: 01534 441080 | Fax: 01534 441077 | email: scrutiny@gov.je