Submission - Population and Migration - Sarah Jordan - 21 June 2019

Sarah Jordan, 21st June 2019

Dear Sirs

As a Jersey born person who has lived & worked abroad I am able to provide ideas from both sides of the coin.

Under the auspices of Senator Andrew Green, I participated on the Citizen's Panel in relation to the Mental Health review. One of the factors to good mental health was mentioned as one's surroundings.

Living, as I do, in St Helier I have found it to be increasingly uncomfortable. If I go to Howard Davis Park or town, at certain times of the day, one does not hear any English spoken such is the number of people speaking foreign languages who do not appear to be holidaying.

Any psychological professional will confirm that any animal who perceives their territory under threat from others will start to feel threatened themselves.

For me it is not the people themselves-I have friends from many countries-it is the sheer number which has started to make me feel that I am a stranger in my birthplace.

Having spoken to others who live in the country parishes who do not come to St Helier often, they are unaware of these experiences &, consequently, the opinions held/feelings of those as I have described.

When I went to live in Luxembourg some 30 years ago, (I don't have the stamp in my passport as I had a grandmother from the UK) I was obliged to register with:

The Police

The Commune (i.e. The Parish)

and undergo health checks before being allowed to reside permanently.

As these seem reasonable & I do not see why anyone coming here would balk at having to do something similar, I feel similar checks should be undertaken for anyone wishing to come to Jersey to live.

In addition, I feel that the Gouvernement should

1. establish how many are already in the Island & their ethnicity/birthplace
2. rather than provide housing to supply everyone currently here at cost to the environment, calculate how many people can comfortably be supported based on the size of the Island, green zones/agricultural areas/necessary health/education/emergency services/sewage/rubbish disposal/water etc.
3. If found necessary, close our doors to anyone coming here which do not support the

essential services just mentioned, and take some drastic (& perhaps painful/uncomfortable) action.

The Gouvernement needs to be pro-active not re-active on this.

After all, the majority of candidates during the last election stood on a platform of population control. Let's see some action. It is becoming too uncomfortable for too many people.

I keep hearing but we need more people to come here to pay taxes/social security to support the elderly. I think this is disingenuous. The elderly will have paid into the social security/pension funds during their working lives. As I recall, a few years ago some £20m was taken from the social security fund & not repaid. What happened to this money?

I also hear that certain jobs require more immigration to fill the vacancies (usually minimum wage jobs). The Finance industry, whilst beneficial on a certain level for the Island has caused its own problems:-

1. due to the disparity in wages between those offered by Finance Companies to others in the public/private sectors & the consequent buying power when it comes to accommodation
2. due to the influx of staff to service the Finance Industry & others, yet more are required to provide services to them in the form of GPs/dentists/hairdressers/beauty/coffee shops/places to eat etc

It is not just the population that needs looking at, the economy/the way it operates/housing/social security/income support to name a few need to be investigated/reformed to also impact on the population.

This may result in a difficult time for Jersey & its people but the whole needs to be addressed otherwise "symptoms" are being treated without "healing" the whole system/Island.

Hope you will find my comments of interest.

Please contact me for any points which you would like clarified.

Yours faithfully Sarah Jordan