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19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3RR
Deputy Catherine Curtis
Chair, Children Education & Home Affairs Panel
BY EMAIL ONLY 12 September 2024
Dear Chair,
Re: MJHA Response to CEHA Panel re Government Plan and departmental plans
Thank you for writing to me on 30th August requesting details in relation to the proposed budget for 2025-2028. Please see the below answers to your queries and please do not hesitate to contact me again should you require further information.
The Panel has noted receipt of the 2024 Departmental Business Plans, however, as we will be reviewing the proposals for 2025, the Panel also requests the Department Business Plans for 2025.
The Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Departmental business plan for 2025 will be drafted during Q4 2024 ready for publication during Q1 2025. This follows Government of Jersey guidelines for the publication of Business Plans. The priorities for the Department for 2025 are likely to be very similar to those in 2024, with changes where there has been development and completion of some projects in the current year. As JHA is primarily an operational and frontline department, these functions are continuous and underpin the safety and security of the Island.
If this is not possible, we request any supporting documentation which has informed the proposed funding allocations for 2025 workstreams.
The Government is focusing, through the agreed Common Strategic Priorities (CSP), on specific areas which will improve the lives of Islanders. JHA has responsibility, working closely with Strategic Policy, Performance and Planning, for the implementation of the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) taskforce recommendations, and therefore is overseeing the below allocated funding, linked to the Common Strategic Policy (CSP) and detailed in the Draft Government Plan and highlighted in the table below.
Documentation which has informed the funding allocation is being provided to the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel who will share these onwards with other Panels.
A detailed list of the projects and/or workstreams that you will be undertaking in 2025 Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
A key priority is the delivery of the Government CSP commitment to implement the recommendations of the VAWG Taskforce. The Panel will be aware that I published a detailed implementation plan for recommendations within my remit in March 2024 which is available here.
The primary areas of activity for 2025 will be:
• The continuation of the independent review of the criminal justice system in relation to rape and serious sexual offences.
• The continued development of a centralised dataset on violence against women and girls.
• The initiation of the independent review of the family court system in relation to the management of domestic abuse allegations.
• Four packages of legislative development to strengthen legislation in the area of violence against women and girls (see outline of legislative programme below).
• The initiation of training and support to build on-island capacity to respond to online and technology-facilitated abuse. This training will be rolled out across specialist support services, the States of Jersey Police, schools and children's services.
• The introduction of training for veterinary professionals on the link between animal abuse and domestic abuse.
• The introduction of training for public services on how to safely respond to and manage perpetrators.
• The publication of guidance for schools on how to implement a whole-of-school approach to VAWG, in line with the Jersey Schools Review Framework.
• The initiation of work to deliver the recommendations directed towards Health and Social Services, including improvements to training and enquiry processes.
Continuation of projects from 2024
JHA categorise projects into Major, Strategic and Local.
In terms of Major and Strategic projects: ESCC Programme
This is a continuing programme of enhancements that will improve the speed and accuracy emergency call handling, improved compliance with professional standards, and therefore improved response to Island emergencies. These are a collection of improvements made to Technology, People and Processes. Funding has been allocated for 2025 to continue the delivery of specific initiatives including telephony improvements and mobile data and location tools for Ambulance and Fire & Rescue vehicles and crews.
New Army and Sea Cadets Head Quarters
JHA will continue in 2025 to review locations, designs against Army and Sea Cadets requirements that will enable a new shared Headquarters that will complete a States of Jersey Assembly
agreement in 2021. This project is a pre-requisite to the development \ re-use of the Rouge Bouillon site as they currently reside on that location.
New Ambulance and Fire & Rescue Headquarter(s)
Work will continue working in collaboration with Jersey Property Holdings and Children, Young People, Education and Skills colleagues and Ministers to understand and agree the way forward with future use of the Rouge Bouillon site due to competing demands and the sequencing of these developments. A shift in strategy however indicated that it would be more reasonable and realistic, taking into account a number of factors including maintaining a Rouge Bouillon location for all facilities (Ambulance, Fire & Rescue, and a school), to deliver separate Headquarters for each of Ambulance and Fire & Rescue.
Budgets for this project have been re-profiled to reflect the anticipated revised timescales and sequencing, with substantive commencement in 2028. As discussed at my recent Quarterly hearing with you, we would be very pleased to provide the panel with a private briefing on these emerging plans once further feasibility work is complete, which we expect will be towards the end of 2024 or early 2025.
JCIS Future Passports Services Programme
This funded project has been on hold for a number of years due to delays within HM Passport Office but is due to commence in 2025 with live running anticipated in 2027. This is a new IT platform shared between the crown dependencies and Gibraltar which will renew and replace the current passport application and administration system, providing a full digital service and allowing for better customer service and integration with existing HMPO systems, whilst maintaining the availability of the much-cherished Island variant' passport.
New Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC)
Early 2025 will see the tender procurement process complete and contracts drawn up with anticipated ground works to commence on the new build at the new location on Bagatelle Road.
Local projects
Facilitated through an internal monthly JHA Change Oversight Board, JHA identify and prioritise a variety of local change candidates that are needed to mitigate operational and/or legal risks or additionally service improvements. These include additional modules within existing IT platforms, upgrades, end of life replacements or new technology.
JHA has no new projects arising from the Government Plan 2025 – 2028.
An outline of your legislative programme for 2025
Violence Against Women and Girls – legislation recommendations
A series of legislative developments to strengthen legislation relevant to violence against women and girls will be lodged by the end of 2025, including:
• The development of legislation to address online and technology-facilitated abuse, specifically the introduction of a range of offences designed to address intimate image abuse.
• The introduction of emergency barring orders into the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022.
• The creation of a new law to address stalking, including the introduction of specific stalking offences, offences to address sex-based harassment in public spaces, and new protective measures for victims.
• The introduction of a specific offence of non-fatal strangulation.
Resilience
The Emergency Planning Team within the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service will continue to develop resilience policy in order to engage and consult relevant people on how a new resilience law could work for Jersey. I know that you have recently received a private briefing from officers on policy development so far.
Fire Precautions
Assisted by Policy colleagues from the Cabinet Office, the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service will continue to advance work on reform of Jersey Fire precautions legislation, learning from practice elsewhere and importing lessons from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
More broadly, I intend to engage with and assist Ministerial colleagues during 2025, in my role with responsibility for fire safety specifically, on the wider learning in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report relating to building safety.
Modern Slavery
Following the recommendations of the Work Permit Holder Welfare Review, preparatory work is ongoing for a process of consultation (in early 2025) with key stakeholders from community groups and industry representatives on the potential introduction of Modern Slavery legislation for Jersey.
A progress update in respect of any projects and/or workstreams agreed by the States Assembly as part of the Government Plan 2024-27 including:
Where these are continuing in 2025; Fire & Rescue Service Operations
It remains my intention to continue investment in public and firefighter safety to achieve the outcomes set out in the business case that was approved as part of the Government Plan 2023- 2026 (supplemented by a small amount of extra expenditure on equipment and training through the 2024-2027 Government Plan). The outcomes, in broad terms, are to increase capacity (numbers of firefighters) and capability, especially relating to adoption of national professional practice and critical learning from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry (phases 1 and 2), the Manchester Arena attack and local major incidents.
Fire & Rescue Terms & Conditions
This is now fully implemented for all of those staff in post. There is a slight underspend in 2024 due to the predicted and target number of retained firefighters not yet being in post. We will be running a further recruitment campaign in 2025.
Ambulance
It remains my intention to use the funding received from the business case as set out in the Government Plan 2023-2026, to continue to develop the Service and meet the growing needs of islanders.
In 2024 the service underwent a restructure and new posts identified were recruited to. New management roles were introduced to enable development for registration under Regulation of Care, and to meet Governance requirements, including clinical and non-clinical governance. Investment was made into frontline and patient transport services to help meet an increased demand on the service, and a review of the rota will ensure that the service is able to continue to meet the needs of the Islanders. Extra staff allowed us to increase day time resilience to four ambulances and the rota review will establish how best to increase the resilience into the night shifts.
We will continue to monitor, collate, analyse and improve our response times and work on strategies to improve response times to islanders who need us the most, whilst exploring alternate pathways for those who do not need to attend hospital immediately.
The introduction of Specialist Paramedics will further enhance the care delivered to islanders and help, through telephonic clinical triage and support, to reduce the number of ambulances being sent to incidents and provide clinical support to our crews. These Specialist Paramedics will be recruited by the end of 2024, with workstreams continuing into 2025.
We will continue to use the funding received as part of a 5-year phased fund to invest in the limited refurbishment of the current ambulance headquarters and this workstream will continue in 2025.
Priorities will continue around supporting staff deal with the issues they may face when attending incidents. Bespoke violence and aggression media campaigns will continue to be driven, enhanced MAYBO training will be rolled out in line with AACE and UK trust practice, and the introduction of Mobile Data Terminals into the new fleet will see greater accuracy around location finding through sat nav integration and the increased awareness of safety alerts pushed to staff.
It is our intention to continue to continue to deliver and implement against the original business case, the demand and capacity review and the Independent AACE review of the service.
Data Management and Analyst
The posts are now recruited to and having a positive impact on the work of the department, providing good quality analytical information for the Services to use as management information, to determine improvement priorities, and to ensure that we are publishing accurate and meaningful Service Performance Measures. One of the two staff is primarily dedicated to the Violence Against Women and Girls work.
Defence funding
This Government Plan 2024 – 2027 funding was simply to ensure that we can keep pace with the increasing costs of the Jersey Field Squadron due to inflation.
Digital forensics unit (States of Jersey Police) This funding has been implemented.
Where these have been delayed and the rationale for this; or
Save for where there have been delays in recruiting (for example retained firefighters), no Government Plan 2024 – 2027 priorities have been delayed.
Where these have been cancelled and the rationale for this. No Government Plan 2024 – 2027 priorities have been cancelled.
An outline of any changes in policy direction or delivery for 2025 and the impact thereof; and
The work on Modern Slavery has been introduced into the 2024-2026 work programme and is currently in the early development phase. The implications for other work are dependent on the necessity for, and scope of, legislation in this area.
An outline of any changes to staff posts and restructuring within your department and the anticipated resultant savings and impact on service delivery.
JHA has committed to savings in the 2025 – 2028 Government Plan/ Budget, and they have been allocated as below:
2025 - £100k (1 FTE) allocated to staff costs, £144k allocated to non-pay 2026 - £200k (2 FTE) allocated to staff costs, £165k allocated to non-pay
The JHA Senior Leadership Team is developing plans to ensure that these savings are delivered, and the Chief Officer will present those plans to me for agreement before they are implemented. I welcome JHA having a comparatively low savings commitment, which reflects the significant majority of department expenditure being frontline staff.
I hope this information is helpful to the Panel and I look forward to keeping the Panel up to date in the future with progress made against our 2025 commitments.
Yours sincerely,
Deputy Mary Le Hegarat
Minister for Justice and Home Affairs