Letter - from Chief Minister re Follow-Up Questions to Public Hearing on P.137/2020 Migration Contro

1.  What  preliminary  work,  aside  from  the  work  of  the  Migration  Policy Development Board, have you undertaken with the Council of Ministers to begin work on a Common Population Policy?

Transcript:

Assistant Chief Minister:

I am working very closely with the officers at the moment to put a compressed timescale plan in place in order to try to get a population policy lodged. It has got to be lodged by I think late October, if it is going to be debated in 2021. The compressed timetable obviously has its significant challenges. One of the areas I have learned in my reading is very little has changed over the last 5 or 10 years. The same questions are still being asked and the same issues are still outstanding. I am working on ways to try not to reinvent the wheel but also make sure that nothing that has materially changed is not included in our deliberations. I have got some ideas in order to, shall we say, shortcut without compromising the process but they are still in draft mode and I will be delighted to

share them with you when they are delivered. You are going to ask when and the answer to that is imminent.

Additional response: Meetings are planned with COM over the next few months

a.  What influence will Assistant Ministers and non-executive Members have on creating the Common Population Policy?

Transcript:

Assistant Chief Minister: transcript

I have had an informal gathering to share some ideas, which I am working towards formalising and extending out invitations to other Members of the Assembly who wish to partake in those deliberations.

2.  Are you optimistic that a Common Population Policy can be delivered in the time this Assembly has left?

Transcript:

Assistant Chief Minister:

The answer to that is no, however we have been asked to deliver it and my biggest fear is it will be a compromise solution that will not necessarily stack up to the heavy scrutiny that it should do and deserves to do. Yes, I am concerned about it because you have mentioned a lot of the deliberations and consultations we would like to take place, certainly with the Children's Commissioner, et

cetera. Yes, I do fear that with all the other major issues that are going on in the Island at the moment we might not be able to do it as well as we would like and as well as the Island would want us to do.

Additional response:

Ministers are under an obligation to present a policy to the Assembly for debate by the end of this year. We are working to achieve this timetable.

3.  How  will  you  monitor,  track  and  account  for  the  interests  of  various departments when creating the common policy?

A common policy will need to involve all ministers and departments and this will be incorporated into the plan for the year

a.  Will performance indicators and similar standards of reporting be published and provided to the Assembly on a regular basis to help understand  how  the  Common  Population  Policy  may  or  should evolve?

Yes, the collation and publication of data will be a key element of the ongoing population policy.

4.  Are you minded of any major changes that could be made to the proposed policy when considering the effects of Brexit and COVID-19? What work has been  undertaken  to  simulate  the  effect  these  issues  may  have  on  the development of a Common Population Policy?

The policy will be developed during the year and will take full account of Brexit and covid issues

a.  Do you believe that it is suitable to bring these changes now, given the need to attract further investment in the Island as a result of Brexit and COVID-19?

Yes, the challenges of Brexit and Covid bring the need for a common population policy into sharp focus. A population policy will adjust from time to time as the needs of the island change. Change is the only constant in life, and the policy will have to be dynamic

b.  How has his tied into the development of the proposed changes, and how will you appropriately weight consideration of these issues when developing the final policy?

These issues will be addressed during the development of the policy.

c.  How will the use of employment statistics influence the development of this policy and how will you ensure that it is given enough priority?

The  collation  and  publication  of  data  will  be  a  key element of the population policy. This has a very high priority within the plan.

d.  What resources have or will be committed to tracking and compiling research on migration into the UK and other relevant jurisdictions, particularly  in  relation  to  the  issues  of  Brexit  and  COVID-19,  to improve an understanding of the overall effects of these issues?

P.137 includes the creation of an expert panel under the CHW law. The panel may not be formed during 2021 but project resources are available to ensure that a broad view is taken of international evidence where this is relevant to Jersey.

5.  What  projections  have  been  created  and  used  to  understand  housing category demand and its links to Island population?

The Objective Assessment of Housing Needs Report (link) provides an independent assessment of housing needs and this will be used to support the population policy planning

a.  How will you ensure that policy areas, such as those raised in our recent hearing, are not siloed, and that Housing and Work policies retain consistency across work programmes?

The proposal to create a common policy on population is designed to create a "whole of government" approach and to avoid siloes.

6.  How are you liaising with businesses and community stakeholders on the proposed changes?

The P.137 proposals are based on the work of the MPDB which  included  two  business  representatives  and  an independent  member.   The  MPDB  held  extensive interviews with business and community stakeholders and  a  workshop  with  Chamber  of  Commerce representatives.   We  will  continue  to  involve stakeholders as plans are progressed

a.  How are you liaising with members of the public on this issue? Will individual  islanders  who  are  not  representative  of  businesses  or community stakeholders be able to give their views?

The current plan is to provide for a public consultation during 2021.

b.  Will a stakeholder list be published or shared with the Panel?

All MPDB minutes are published online. www.gov.je/migrationpolicy

We are happy to share any additional stakeholder lists with the Panel.

7.  Do you believe that, given the current issues surrounding the Pandemic, economic recovery, and other areas, that the Next Steps' timetable outlined on page 38 of the proposition remains accurate, and will a new timetable be issued as soon as possible should delays become apparent?

Yes, there will be some slippage from this timetable for the reasons identified to the Panel and a new timetable will be shared with the Panel as soon as possible.

a.  How  much  work  has  been  completed  on  the  development  and implementation of the new IT system for the associated operational processing and collation of migration data? Can we expect the system to be in place by the projected month of September 2021?

Planning for the new IT system has started and it is anticipated that the system will be operational by the end of 2021. A £1 million budget has been allocated for 2021.

8.  How will the review of migrant access to government funded services be conducted? What is its overall aim and policy target?

This work will be undertaken as soon as key operational tasks (IT, data collection, CHW law changes) are further progressed. The aim is to ensure that access to benefits and services is fair and aligned across all areas.

a.  You also propose a separate workstream to "consider the impact of the proposed CHW changes on family life and children" (page 8). Please could you outline the details of this workstream and how you intend to ensure that it will have enough of an impact on the creation of a final policy?

Further details are set out on page 36 of the P.137 report. We recognise the importance of this area and a separate review will be undertaken to ensure that these issues are fully considered.

b.  What  role  will  key  stakeholders,  such  as  the  Children's Commissioner, play in the creation of a final policy?

The Children's Commissioner will continue to be fully involved in the development of the final policy

9.  Has consideration been given to the consequences of the limitations on family members  visiting  and  the  potential  impact  on  the  diversification  of  the workforce  given  that  the  system  will  favour  single  workers  without dependents?

The CHW law does not place any restrictions on visitors to the island.

The  CHW  law  will  not  differentiate  between  single workers and workers with dependants.

This query may refer to immigration controls.

10. Please could you provide a clear breakdown on the costs of work permits and immigration costs and clarify whether these are cost neutral or aim to raise revenue.

Work  permits  and  immigration  costs  are  under  the control of the Home Affairs Minister.

Fees are levied under the CHW law in respect of an individual moving to Jersey and in respect of a business holding various types of permission to employ staff.

Full details of the current fee levels are provided here. Part of the income from CHW fees is used to support additional investment in skills and training, as well as covering the cost of the CHW administration itself. Fee income has been significantly reduced in 2020 due to Covid restrictions.

11. Will there be any discretion in the application of the issuing of permits to different industry sectors at any given time as a result of demand and, if so, how will it be applied and who will be making those decisions.

The population policy will set out the overall aim of the government in supporting different industry sectors from time to time.

Individual decisions will be made under the CHW law in line with the agreed population policy and published guidelines.

Decision making will sit with administrative officers acting within policy and guidelines as far as possible.

A  panel  of  States  members  will  make  decisions  as needed in unusual cases.