JDA recent activities

Trevor tells us that his written questions for the States sitting of February 2nd arise from a mixture of his current constituent work; unresolved issues arising from the last States sitting; and some developing work on a review of taxation. The question to the Home Affairs Minister relates to many months work supporting residents of Albert Quay to get the authorities to finally tackle long-standing problems with anti-social behaviour. The question to the Attorney General follows on from a question on the use of independent lawyers during the Historic Abuse Inquiry that went unanswered at the last sitting due to States 'Question Time' over-running. The question to the Treasury Minister arises from work Trevor is analyzing with regard to progressive taxation possibilities. Finally, the question for the Chairman of the Privileges & Procedures Committee relates to the dissatisfaction a number of Members felt with the manner in which the complaint to PPC from Jersey's suspended Police Chief was dealt with.

WRITTEN QUESTION TO H.M. ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY DEPUTY T.M. PITMAN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2010
"Will H.M. Attorney General please clarify whether any of the three former members of 7 Bedford Row Chambers subsequently employed within or by the Attorney General’s office, as mentioned in an answer to a written question on 19th January 2009, were involved in any way in work relating to the Historic Abuse Inquiry; and if so, would he advise what form this involvement took?"

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
BY DEPUTY T.M. PITMAN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2010
"Will the Minister advise how many complaints, if any, have been received by the States of Jersey Police over the past twelve months relating to anti-social behaviour emanating from the area around the Albert Quay Apartments and surrounding land, particularly problems involving cars and motor bikes; further still, how many arrests have been made and how many charges have been brought against those involved in such anti-social behaviour?

Given the number of complaints from residents concerning anti-social behaviour involving cars and motorbikes outside the Albert Quay Apartments, will the Minister advise whether it is the responsibility of the States of Jersey Police or the Harbours Department to deal with this; and whether speed limits and Island-wide restrictions on the sounding of horns within certain hours can be enforced by the States of Jersey Police?"

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND RESOURCES
BY DEPUTY T.M. PITMAN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2010
"Given that taxation rates are in line for review, based on current figures, would the Minister advise what increase in revenue would be achieved by the introduction of a progressive tax rate of either 25% or 30% being implemented for those earning more than £100,000 per annum?"

WRITTEN QUESTION TO CHAIRMAN OF PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE
BY DEPUTY T.M. PITMAN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2010
Following her response to a question on 19th January 2009, concerning the letter of complaint to the Privileges and Procedures Committee made by the suspended Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police, when the Chairman stated that she had intended to mention the letter to the rest of the Committee but that it had not been done , whilst also stating that she often did not inform the Committee of such contacts, would the Chairman advise whether she feels that such comments are consistent; and whether she feels that such practice does not undermine confidence in the Committee to do its job?"

Deputy Geoff Southern will be asking these questions:-

Post Office Questions

Economic Development Minister
To what extent has the ED department been in consultation with the management of Jersey Post, either directly or through the JCRA or other bodies over the recently announced restructuring plan for Jersey Post?

In particular, will the minister explain to members the meaning of the following statements from Jersey Post:

1.The redundancies at Jersey Post are not a reduction in jobs…”
Will the minister inform members how many employees are there now and how many at the end of the process in 2013?

2.There is to be a “re-alignment of pay to market rates for particular skill sets and activities”
Does this re-alignment mean pay cuts for any employees, and if so which grades and how many? Further, will the minister outline for members the depth of any such pay cuts?

3.Can the minister assure members that this process will not result in deterioration to the Universal Service Provision, including collection and delivery provision?

4.In particular, has the minister received any assurances that Post Offices or sub post offices will not be closed or otherwise affected by this process?

Social Security Minister
Will the minister detail for members of the extent that his department has been involved in discussions over the impact that the restructuring plan recently announced by Jersey Post will have on redundancies and reduced wages and hence on his departments expenditure on Income Support and supplementation? Will he give members an estimate of these projected costs?

To Housing Minister
The Assistant Minister for Housing stated publicly on 24th January that “by and large they (J- cats) are on a time limit”. Will the minister state whether the policy of granting permanent J-cat licences has changed and state what proportions of the 348 and 533 licences granted in 2009 and 2008 respectively were granted in the public and private sectors?

To Chief Minister
Following the breakdown of the mediation process between the States Employment Board and teachers’ representatives, will the CM inform members what instructions were given to the States representatives on the 2009 pay offer in order to allow meaningful mediation to take place? What further measures does the CM have under consideration to avert the prospect of industrial action in our schools?

To Housing Minister
Notwithstanding the ongoing consultation process his department is engaged in, will the minister inform members what options he has under consideration to eliminate the chronic underfunding of £7.5 m on annual repairs and maintenance identified in the Whitehead report?

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Past Activities

Debbie de Sousa has asked questions of the Transport &Technical Services Minister on Gas. She is doing a proposition to the Economic Development Dept. on legislation to control Estate Agents (Alan Maclean is going to LOVE that!) and stop gazumping, a proposition to get GST of fuel for people on low incomes attached to the winter fuel allowance, and a proposition to look at the timing of the strategic plan, business plan and budget.

Shona Pitman is working on her motion re. Boxing Day. Debbie and Shona have had successes in challenging planning applications. PPC and the Council of Ministers are bringing a suggestion for a time limit on speeches for propositions. JDA deputies should bring an amendment.

Geoff Southern has put in questions about the Water board, which have been fed around Deputies, and is doing 2 more on Telecoms redundancies. He is doing propositions on the Water Works redundancies to ask the ED Minister to request the JCRA to produce a report on the implications of the lay-offs, and to ask the Social Security Minister to report back to the House on whether redundancies conform to the employment law. He is asking Social Security to find ways of funding payments such as removing the cap on contributions. He is trying to get a co-operative approach from the SS Minister on improving the Income Support policy as part of his Scrutiny review. He has also had casework successes.

Trevor Pitman has spent 3 days at Westminster (where no Blackberries are allowed) and the Welsh Assembly seeing how they do scrutiny. His proposition on naming young offenders has been pushed back to 1st December, when he is also bringing the proposition to ban Blackberries. He is also working on laws on knife crime exploring issues around deterring people from carrying knives. Something about 1.1(K)s needs to go in as an amendment to the budget. The Parliamentary party will look at it next week.