Letter From Minister for the Environment re Written Questions - 27 September 2019

19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 4WE

Connétable Mike Jackson

Chairman

Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel Scrutiny Office

Morier House

St Helier

JE1 1DD

27 September 2019 Dear Mike

Government Plan 2020 – Written Questions

Thank you for your letter of 19 September 2019. Please see below answers to your written questions.

Climate emergency fund

1. Please can you provide further details of how you have estimated the level of funding required for each of the elements of this proposal, including:

1. Policy development for Carbon Neutral Strategy and Sustainable Transport Plan

Policy Development of the CNS and STP, CSP5-1-1 (0.5M in 2020)

Expenditure has been based on known costs for similar projects including technical studies, engagement activities and internal resourcing costs such as staff costs.

2. Sustainable Transport Initiatives (it is noted that this is indicative as the types of initiatives are not yet known. Can you advise how this figure has been estimated?

STP initiatives CSP5-1-1 (illustrative 1.55M in 2020)

The annual expenditure is noted as illustrative expenditure and has been identified on the basis of a selection of likely schemes and initiatives that have been identified as no regrets' i.e. are likely to form the basis of any interventions proposed within a new STP. They have been costed using professional's experience and scheduled according to their likely feasibility in the 2020 delivery timescales available recognising that should funding be agreed in Nov 2019, there are challenges in initiating procurement and delivery in the 2020 timeframe.

Strengthening Environmental Protection – 0.495M in 2020 comprising –

3. Species and habitat protection

Species and habitat protection CSP5-1-1 (0.120M in 2020)

Additional resources will be used to better enforce tree protection under the existing legal framework for 2020. In parallel, carry out tree survey to identify key protection areas in preparation for the new law post 2021.

4. Invasive and non-native species

Invasive and non-native species CSP5-1-1 (0.2M in 2020 comprising the components shown below)

An INNS threat Assessment Review - £10,000

A current status report is required to act as a foundation for the development of a local Invasive species strategy. It would include a metasurvey of local biological and geographic information, horizon scanning for potential INNS, threat assessment for species and examination of potential pathways relevant to Jersey.

A Review of Local Legislation & Responsibilities re. INNS - £10,000

A review of legislation and responsibilities is required to act as a foundation for the development of a local Invasive species strategy.

Development of INNS Strategy £25,000

Consultants and contracted skills are required to build on the foundations described above to draft and take to completion an agreed strategy for the future control, mitigation, and where appropriate, eradication of species of invasive plants, animals, and insects which detrimentally affect Jersey's human, plant, crop, and animal health. A strategy for the island should be compatible with the GB Invasive Species Strategy and those of neighbouring jurisdictions and hence research, local stakeholder engagement and external collaboration is required with peers representing those countries. Jersey also marks the confluence of two biological and climatic zones, acting as a "first receiver" of species being pushed north through Europe by the effects of climate change. We are therefore a sentinel site reporting sightings and experiences to the UK, further necessitating the need for a collaborative approach in strategy development.

Asian Hornet Management £50,000:

In accordance with the Asian Hornet Management Plan, an Asian Hornet Coordinator will be employed to coordinate and manage the efforts of a significant field force of volunteers, department staff, academics and professional pest controllers. This is an escalating problem with higher nest numbers and so higher destruction costs need to be met through the contracting of pest controllers, and the hiring of specialist access equipment. Agreement is also in place to offer the payment of expenses to volunteers and following a highly successful Jersey based BIC(E) conference, Jersey staff and volunteers will train UK (DEFRA) Bee inspectors to assist with UK domestic control of this invasive species.

Japanese Knotweed Management £20,000:

This highly successful and destructive invasive plant is prevalent throughout the island and is resistant to standard means of mitigation through pesticide application. Resources are being sought for the ongoing investment in specialist pesticide stem injection equipment and training for land owners and managers to keep on top of current accumulations. Additionally, there will be development of further programmes of eradication and control to lessen the impact on biodiversity and in many cases structural integrity of man-made developments. Redrafting of local legislation to incorporate the ability to issue notices to land owners and operators is required and background research and fieldwork is required to support this work.

Pampas Grass Management £15,000:

Another highly successful and destructive invasive plant is prevalent throughout the island which is very difficult to control through pesticide application, often mechanical removal is the only effective but expensive option. Resources are being sought to begin a management plan, explore control methods, raise awareness and provide training for land owners and managers to begin Pampas management.

Carpet Sea Squirt £15,000:

Findings of a new invasive species (likely Carpet Sea Squirt, a highly problematic coloniser of harbours, marinas and shellfish beds) requires thorough research and if possible,

mitigation. Liaison and practical research with other jurisdictions is required to assist from the offset with identification and DNA analysis through to, where necessary, practical action to mitigate colonisation and to aid the protection of marine biodiversity and particularly our Ramsar sites.

Hottentot Fig Management £15,000

The current annual budget is £10,000 - sufficient to maintain pre-managed areas and slightly increase the area under active management on 3 SSI's. However observations suggest that plant  is more hostile, probably due to climate warming creating a more favourable habitat for the plant, so a year on year increase in budget and effort is required if progress is to be made.

INNS Control Equipment £40,000

Provision of non-pesticidal invasive plant control equipment (Foamstream) and a small off road transport platform to support management programs.

5. Marine environment research

Marine environment research (0.75M in 2020)

The Marine Resources team includes scientific officers who gather evidence and data relating to the local marine environment and fisheries stocks. Marine Resources works cooperatively with local, regional, national and international NGOs, government bodies, universities and working groups on projects of local and international importance. As a consequence Jersey is regarded as a proactive and accomplished player in the fields of marine environmental and fisheries research. The key driver is the documentation, monitoring and assessment of all aspects of the marine environment to inform and sustain a sustainable marine management framework.

As part of its integrated approach to managing the marine environment Marine Resources is working towards a fully sustainable Jersey fishery. Achieving this requires a detailed understanding of local habitats and species and the effects of human activity on these. The research work currently be undertaken can be extended and greatly enhanced with only relatively small sums of money in 2020. The projects outlined below are taken from Marine Resources' priority work list.

Expenditure for 2020 involves equipment and resources for the following activities:

• Netting study £8k, Equipment and Live tank for post release mortality assessment
• Lobster and Crab Catchability & Environment Study: £15,000 – Equipment costs (data loggers, tags)
• Scallop Survey: £8,000 - Funding required for vessel, crew and survey equipment hire for three days
• Catch and release for shellfish (softshell brown crab) - £2,000 for tagging equipment,
• Van Veen Grab research equipment - £2.5k
• Pots replacements and gear - £1k
• Cetacean Monitoring: £3,500 for equipment: including 2 x CPOD hydrophones plus mooring ropes, weights.
• Digital measuring equipment: £3,000 - Equipment: including waterproof digital measuring boards and callipers
• Vessel Satellite Monitoring (iVMS): £32,000 - Equipment: iVMS units (which track the location of individual vessels and have become a standard tool for enforcement, monitoring and research) / mobile handsets

6. The climate emergency and the Island Plan

The climate emergency and the Island Plan (0.1M in 2020)

£100k to provide for additional support to ensure the Island Plan is fully responsive to the climate emergency in key areas, including an enhanced sustainability appraisal and key technical studies. Expenditure has been based on known costs for similar projects including technical studies, engagement activities and internal resourcing costs such as staff costs.

2. Are you confident that the level of all forms of funding and resourcing allocated to this project is sufficient to meet the project's stated aims? Please give reasons for your answer.

The Climate Emergency Fund have been proposed as a way to initiate funding to support the transition to a carbon neutral island and to address the Climate Emergency.

We are confident that the smaller and more tangible and time limited projects are more easily costed and thus the resourcing is more accurate (i.e. Species and habitat protection, Invasive and non-native species, Marine environment research)

However, the development and delivery of the Carbon Neutral Strategy and the Sustainable Transport Plan are more difficult to currently enumerate without the forthcoming detailed strategic and policy development.

The exact form and timescale of this transition is yet to be defined in the Carbon Neutral Strategy and the subsequent States debate. Therefore, we do not know the detailed costs yet. Nevertheless, they are likely to be substantial and so the Climate Emergency Fund is initiated with £5M from the consolidated fund and proposed to be added to by the additional income from an above RPI increase in fuel duty over the course of the Plan. The Fund is set up to allow further income from other fiscal levers should these be approved in time to come by the Assembly. As the Carbon Neutral journey is defined and its costs become apparent the balance of expenditure and therefore funding, and resourcing will become clearer. Mechanisms to raise this associated revenue may include polluter-pays charges and the revenue raised can be added to the fund. This has begun with the proposed introduction of an above RPI increase in fuel duty to fund the illustrative expenditure for the new STP as noted above.

3. Please can you advise of any external stakeholders which have been consulted on the development of this project?

Policy development in respect of the Carbon Neutral Strategy and the Sustainable Transport Plan will undergo full public engagement as they are drafted. However, development work to date has not been carried out in isolation and has been undertaken with the following engagement around principles and scope setting:

• Carbon Neutral Strategy – Current development work is being undertaken with the Jersey Energy Forum (comprised of representatives from the energy industry, businesses and the third sector). The Government of Jersey is also working with officers and politicians from the Government of Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the British Irish Council all of whom have similar policy aspirations to tackle the climate emergency
• Sustainable Transport Strategy – A rapid policy development exercise was undertaken in early 2019 with a variety of key stakeholders - the Active Travel Sprint which included representative from stakeholder groups and businesses e.g. disability advocates, Sport Jersey, liberty Busses, Chamber of Commerce. A focused electric vehicle futures workshop was held with internal officers From the States of Jersey and representatives from Jersey Electricity. Continued and more detailed policy development will include island wide engagement.

Assessment of public infrastructure and resources

4. Itis noted on page 88 of R.91/2019 that £150k has been allocated to the assessment of public infrastructure and resources and that this will specifically fund the procurement of an external partner to develop an infrastructure model, carry out assessments and develop a future Island Infrastructure Plan'. Please can you advise whether an external partner has yet been identified or when you plan to start the procurement process?

The project will inform the Island Plan Review and the first elements have been identified as needing to be accelerated into late 2019.

The intention is that the project will be split into 2 phases, the first phase to be completed in 2019 through the Island Plan Review process (estimated cost £25k) and may be undertaken by our identified strategic partner Arup.

The second phase will be tendered through the Channel Islands Tender Portal. As such, the costs are indicative as all proposals submitted will be subject to a value for money assessment as part of the tender appraisal process.

5. Please can you advise of any external stakeholders which have been consulted on the development of this project?

The nature of the project i.e. a technical assessment, means that the scope can be written without involvement of external stakeholders using internal expertise. However, when the project commences there will be a strong requirement to work with stakeholders e.g. Jersey Electricity and Jersey Water.

6. Are you confident that the level of all forms of funding and resourcing allocated to this project is sufficient to meet the project's stated aims? Please give reasons for your answer.

The signed business case requests £150k in 2020 to complete the tasks as outlined in the project scope.

The total cost is based on day rates and costs of previous studies of an estimated similar volume of works (detailed information is commercially sensitive) e.g. review of electricity standby charge 2019; shoreline management plan 2018/2019. We are therefore currently confident that the resource request is sufficient.

Countryside access

7. Please can you provide a breakdown of specifically what the requested funding will cover?

The funding covers two distinct activities:

Contractual management and improvement of the path network as follows

• 2020 – 150k, 2021 – 170k, 2022 – 120k and 2023 - 90k

And staff costs as follows:

• 2020 – 45k, 2021 – 46.3k, 2022 – 47.7k and 2023 - 49k

8. Please can you advise of any external stakeholders which have been consulted on the development of this project?

The Countryside Access Strategy 2016, upon which the projects and actions this bid intends to fund, underwent full public consultation as part of its development. It was informed by a large amount of engagement with the public and users of the access network. The response was remarkable and shows how much Islanders value and care about getting out into the open air and making the most of our environment in many different ways. In total nearly 900 islanders expressed their views on what they wanted from Jersey's network of path.

The aim is to work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to improve access to the countryside in a safe, sustainable and cost effective way.

9. Are you confident that the level of all forms of funding and resourcing allocated to this project is sufficient to meet the project's stated aims? Please give reasons for your answer.

The Business case refers to expected contracted rates for the infrastructure works and the costs of a FTE of staff and therefore we are confident that the requested funding is adequate.

Island Plan Review

10. Please can you provide a more detailed breakdown of what the requested £650,000 funding will cover?

There is a legal requirement to review the Island Plan at least once every ten years and, as a consequence, there is a specific requirement to secure additional resources to enable this periodic review. External support is required to support this work, which will be led by the internal Planning Policy Team and is required to be commissioned in a number of ways, as detailed below.

Strategic partner relationship

A broader strategic partner relationship needs to be developed with an external multidisciplinary agency, to provide on-going strategic advice, undertake certain studies on a call-off basis, and provide additional planning capacity at key points in the Review.

Evidence base appraisal

A number of study specific exercises will need to be commissioned to review or develop an evidence base for the review of the Plan. This may involve the direct engagement of, for example, smaller agencies with relevant expertise and/or knowledge of the Jersey situation. Failure to ensure that the Plan is sound and founded on robust and credible evidence base will render it unfit.

Engagement and consultation

Consultation is a statutory requirement of plan-production. It is, however, recognised that early and continued public and political engagement is key to being able to deliver a robust revised Island Plan that better meets the island community's needs and expectations. External assistance will need to be secured to increase the capacity and ability to conduct extensive, meaningful and comprehensive engagement.

Process requirements

It is a legal requirement that the draft Plan, and representations made in relation to it, are considered and reviewed by an independent Planning Inspector. The Inspector will be engaged to run an Examination in Public and be supported by a dedicated Programme Officer.

An indicative budget has been prepared based on a considered assessment of those elements of work require to underpin a new Plan; and an assessment of their likely cost, having regard to previously commissioned work of a similar nature.

2018/19  2020  Totals Engagement  50,000  50,000  100,000 Evidence base  200,000  50,000  250,000 Strategic partner  100,000  400,000  500,000 Independent  -  150,000  150,000

inspection

Totals  350,000  650,000  1,000,000

11. How does the requested funding of £650,000 compare with previous Island Plan funding?

The current Island Plan (the Revised 2011 Island Plan) was first prepared in 2011 where costs, which included those of communication and engagement; the preparation and publication of a range of reports; the costs of engaging independent planning inspectors to hold an Examination in Public; and some internal costs, amounted to £358,071.88

Parts of the plan were the subject of an interim review in 2014. External costs for this interim review, which primarily involved the costs of engaging independent planning inspectors to hold a further Examination in Public, amounted to £131,428.32.

Funding of £350,000 has already been secured to support the work required to undertake the current Island Plan Review (See Ministerial Decision TR-2018-0131).

The last comprehensive Island Plan Review, undertaken in 2011, relied upon a range of earlier studies (such Countryside Character Appraisal, undertaken in 1999; the St Helier Urban Character Appraisal, undertaken in 2005; and the Mineral Strategy, commissioned in 1999), which are now out-of-date, and need to be reviewed to ensure that the new Island Plan has a sound and robust evidence base. We also propose to widen the scope of the Island Plan beyond that undertaken in 2011, to ensure that it meets new States of Jersey objectives such as putting children first and responding to the climate change emergency. We want more Islanders to get involved with the plan-making process to ensure that we have a new Island Plan that best reflects the community's aspirations and needs and will need to invest in better communication and engagement. We also want the plan-making process to be quicker, and we will need to secure some additional help to enable us to do this.

In light of all of this, we have sought to secure additional funding of £650,000 for the Island Plan Review.

12. Please can you advise of any external stakeholders which have been consulted on the development of this project?

The preparation of the plan must satisfy a number of legal tests and it will be open to public, political, and independent professional scrutiny. The development of the project thus far has, therefore, been informed by the previous island plan review processes; reference to best practice in plan-making throughout the UK; and internal review within GoJ.

A strategic partner has now been engaged who will provide critical advice in relation to the development of the project to ensure that it robust and sound.

The process of plan-making and the content of the plan will be the subject of both informal and formal external stakeholder engagement throughout the process of review. Consultation on the strategic issues and options stage of the plan-making process is current (closing 04 October 2019).

13. Are you confident that the level of all forms of funding and resourcing allocated to this project is sufficient to meet the project's stated aims? Please give reasons for your answer.

The basis for the current IPR budget is set out above. Based on a considered assessment of those elements of work require to underpin a new Plan; and an assessment of their likely cost, having regard to previously commissioned work of a similar nature, there is confidence that the new Island Plan can be delivered with the proposed level of resources.

Jersey National Park

14. Please can you provide a breakdown of how much each of the specified elements requiring funding will cost?

This project is led by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture. Therefore, I respectfully direct Scrutiny to the detailed response that he has presented to the Chair of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel for all details associated with this project.

The Minister for the Environment will be offered the future opportunity to work alongside the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport & Culture as outlined in response to the first question in the response letter.

15. Are you confident that the level of all forms of funding and resourcing allocated to this project is sufficient to meet the project's stated aims? Please give reasons for your answer.

As above.

16. Please can you advise of any external stakeholders which have been consulted on the development of this project?

As above.

Shoreline Management Plan

17. Please can you advise whether the action in the Government Plan to produce a Shoreline Management Plan' requires any agreed funding or if this funding has already been agreed? If funding already agreed what, if any, additional resource/manpower will this incur for the Department?

The Shoreline Management Plan will be produced by the end of 2019 and is already fully funded and resourced.

18. Please can you advise which external stakeholders, if any, have been consulted when developing this action within the Government Plan?

The Shoreline Management Plan has undergone a full public consultation process over the summer of 2019

Enhance the St. Helier urban environment

19. Please can you advise whether the action in the Government Plan to enhance the St. Helier urban environment' requires any agreed funding or if this funding has already been agreed? If funding already agreed what, if any, additional resource/manpower will this incur for the Department?

There is currently no agreed funding to enhance the St Helier urban environment in a co-ordinated manner which the Minister considers needs further consideration in 2020 given that action to enhance the urban environment of St Helier will require investment, specifically in the public realm and in aspects of the urban environment that are necessary to create a more liveable town. The delivery of some enhancement can be secured by private sector investment in the redevelopment and regeneration of development sites, and delivered through the planning process by the use of planning obligations agreements. Planning Obligation Agreements (POAs) can be used to ensure some enhancements to the environs in and around development sites to help offset their impact on the local community, but their application is limited and needs to be relevant and proportionate to the development from which they are derived.

The delivery of an enhanced public realm in the south west of St Helier is a specific requirement of the draft SW St Helier Planning Framework and the use of POAs will be used to effect the delivery and enhancement of the public realm in and around St. Helier 's waterfront, subject to the adoption of the draft planning guidance.

The Minister for the Environment wishes to continue to explore the establishment of a planning charge or levy that might be applied more comprehensively and consistently across a greater range of development to effect an urban regeneration funding mechanism to support the enhancement of St Helier's urban environment in particular. In the event that such a mechanism is not secured there will be a need to identify additional funding, potentially from an Infrastructure Fund, to support the delivery of the necessary community infrastructure such as public realm enhancement, open space and play space, and other community facilities.

20. Please can you advise which external stakeholders, if any, have been consulted when developing this action within the Government Plan?

During the summer of 2019 there was full public consultation around the policy development associated with the SW St Helier Masterplan and the Island Plan Strategic options.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any additional information. Yours sincerely

Deputy John Young Minister for the Environment

D +44 (0)1534 44.540 E j.young:@gov.je