STATES OF JERSEY
OFFICIAL REPORT
THURSDAY, 30th JUNE 2022
COMMUNICATIONS BY THE PRESIDING OFFICER
1.1 Welcome to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor
FAREWELL TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR
2.1 Connétable A.S. Crowcroft of St. Helier:
2.2 His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton:
ADJOURNMENT
[9:31]
The Roll was called and the Dean led the Assembly in Prayer.
The Bailiff:
May I, in the traditional way, welcome His Excellency and, indeed, Lady Dalton, who is in the Bailiff's Gallery, to the Assembly this morning? [Approbation]
The Bailiff:
There is but one matter of business before the Assembly this morning and I call upon the Connétable of St. Helier.
On behalf of the States Assembly I am pleased to be able to express our gratitude to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton and Lady Dalton for all that they have done for the people of Jersey during the past 5 years. Almost 3 years to the day after His Excellency was welcomed by the States Assembly we were beset by the COVID pandemic and His Excellency's role as a point of contact between the Island’s authorities and the U.K. (United Kingdom) Government meant that he was able to request an advance meeting of the Privy Council to gain Royal Assent to allow the States to introduce critical emergency legislation, the COVID-19 (Enabling Provisions) Law 2020, that was required immediately to address issues presented by the pandemic. I am sure that the Island’s Emergencies Council must have benefited greatly from his participation and that his contribution to its discussions was invaluable, given his past military service and leadership roles in the Royal Air Force. Throughout this period of prolonged concern and uncertainty, which has to date cost the lives of more than 130 Islanders and left many others with long-term physical and mental health problems, His Excellency and Lady Dalton's particular interest in promoting well-being and supporting the agencies working to improve the health of Islanders has been most timely. His Excellency initiated a conference on children and young people’s emotional health and well-being, while Lady Dalton, according to the C.E.O. (chief executive officer) of Headway, now a States Member, and I quote: “Has regularly paid visits to meet and get among our members, assisting with crafts which form such an important part of rehabilitation after a brain injury or stroke. Her visits have always brought light and warmth into the hearts of both our staff and members.” On Tuesday this week it was the turn of the Shelter Trust to receive them for the opening of new premises for homeless women and a wide range of organisations and their clients have benefited from routine and, in some cases, weekly visits throughout their time in Jersey. While receptions in Government House and its gardens were impossible for almost 2 years, His Excellency and Lady Dalton were still active in their support of the community with more than 100 patronages between them. With the relaxation of COVID restrictions they have been making up for lost time with what must have been an exhausting schedule of receptions and fixtures. Last Sunday, for example, they were found on the Albert Pier supporting the annual service of commemoration by the Jersey Evacuees Association and it was noticeable that while the car was ready to whisk them away to the next engagement His Excellency and Lady Dalton were not ready to leave until they had met everyone present and listened to their stories. Everyone who has met them has been impressed by their warmth and interest, their energy and positivity, their ability to put people at their ease, the fact that they listen intently and speak from the heart. In his welcome address, a little over 5 years ago, the late Len Norman, chair of the Privileges and Procedures Committee, alluded to the Lieutenant Governor’s traditional role in the protection of the Island on behalf of the sovereign. The threat of invasion by our French neighbours was very much a real concern at that time, he reminded us, going on to reassure His Excellency that he would not have to worry much about the physical defence of the Island but who knows, he added, with his characteristic humour and remarkable prescience, given the flotilla of French vessels that blockaded St. Helier harbour for a time on 6th May last year. As the Commander-in-Chief for British Armed Forces in the Island His Excellency has provided strong support for all of the armed forces and their cadet forces, taking a salute at numerous parades and showing his keen interest in the welfare of all uniformed service personnel. He has invited veterans to Government House and got to know several who are sadly passed away. He was closely involved in the commemoration and remembrance events surrounding the centenary of the ending of the First World War, including the repatriation of the heart stone to Jersey from Guillemont in France, the unveiling of the memorial to the Jersey contingent in the Royal Square and the unveiling of the St. Helier First World War memorial in Parade Gardens. Members of the States Assembly have appreciated His Excellency’s attendance at our meetings, both in person and online, as we have debated matters of great importance to the Island, notably the COVID legislation designed to protect the community, the bridging Island Plan, and the proposals for the new hospital, as well as some matters which he may have regarded as of slightly less importance. Having experienced some of the living history programme at Elizabeth Castle where he was addressed by a young Prince Charles in exile, His Excellency may have looked up from his seat in his Chamber on a rare occasion when he was not fully absorbed in the debate or giving question time his undivided attention, and gazing up at the tablet recalling the governorship of Sir Walter Raleigh, he may have allowed his mind to wander through our Island's rich history and its long relationship with the Crown. He has been able to play his part in that of course by hosting visits to Jersey by members of the Royal Family; twice by Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal and twice by the Countess of Wessex, on the second occasion when she accompanied His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex as the Island’s guest for the celebration of Liberation this year. In addition, Government House has hosted 18 ambassadorial or V.I.P. (very important person) visitors, including members of the Archbishop’s Commission. It is worth reminding ourselves that during this lieutenant governorship a seismic shift has taken place as our established church has moved from Winchester to Salisbury, even though not as many Islanders have been aware of these rumblings, as would have been the case in previous centuries. His Excellency’s support for sport has been enormously appreciated by Islanders and he has supported the Island Games, the Commonwealth Games, Jersey Cricket, our rowers and sailors, and has been in regular attendance for Jersey Reds and Jersey Bulls matches. A very keen tennis player, he has promoted the use of the grounds at Government House for the annual Jersey Hospice charity fundraiser ladies’ tennis competition. While everyone will agree that it has been wonderful to have kept His Excellency and Lady Dalton for a few extra months, enabling them to undertake another packed programme of events at Government House, their departure today will at least allow Sir Stephen to enjoy the second week at Wimbledon. His Excellency and Lady Dalton have also championed numerous arts and cultural organisations, including local artists, musicians and choirs. They have developed a taste for local produce, especially our black butter, apple juice and oysters. Hopefully a hamper will find its way to their new home in Scotland in time for Christmas.
[9:45]
No corner of our beautiful and fascinating Island has been untouched by our Lieutenant Governor and Lady Dalton, and it is probable that they have visited more of its locations than some Islanders, thanks to some extent to Archie, who on his walks will have tugged them away into many hidden corners of our beaches and countryside. He will undoubtedly enjoy the new walks that Scotland will offer although he will find the sea much colder. We are very grateful for everything that His Excellency and Lady Dalton have contributed to Island life over the past 5 years, especially during extremely difficult and testing times. We wish them and their family good health and happiness as they move on to pastures new. [Approbation]
Mr. Bailiff, Connétables, Members of the States, I am most grateful to you all for attending this special meeting of the States of the Jersey Assembly and for allowing me to actually speak. It has been an honour to have sat here many, many times over the last 5-plus years and listen to the questions and debates of the Assembly Members. There have been times when I have wondered where a particular speech was leading, as I think many others have as well. However, what is not always appreciated outside this Chamber I think is just how challenging it is to construct the specific question a Member wishes to ask to entice the relevant Minister or even, dare I say, Attorney General, to give the questioner the information that they want to expose and they are trying to discover. For those of you who are new to this Assembly, many congratulations on your elections. But I would suggest that you spend some time, some homework, as they say, working out how to ask questions here so that you can actually get the right information before you attract the attention of the Presiding Officer. Thank you, Connétable Crowcroft, for your kind words and particularly for highlighting the magnificent support that Anne has made during our time in Jersey. Throughout my career, she has supported me and done so much more. She has cut her own furrow, always looking to help others yet so often her endeavours have not had the credit and recognition I think they warrant. Apart that is from her wing-walking at the Jersey Air Show. I would like to publicly acknowledge the partnership that is Team Dalton and to thank her for all she has done for being my very special partner in life. [Approbation] We have had a very special and enjoyable engaging time in Jersey. We have met many wonderful people and have witnessed some extraordinary events and occurrences. Our memories of our time here will be overwhelmingly positive and colourful, and we shall never forget that so many Jersey people do quite so much, quite extraordinary things, to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. However, we could not have done our job, met the often challenging programmes Constable Crowcroft mentioned, without the support of the home team at Government House. Mr. Bailiff, many members of the team are sitting in the public gallery this morning and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for their superb support. Thank you, team. [Approbation] Before I offer you some thoughts I would like to check a point of order please, Mr. Bailiff.
The Bailiff:
Yes.
His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton:
Could you tell the Assembly who will be the Lieutenant Governor for the short interval between my departure and my successors arrival, or perhaps the Attorney General might offer you an opinion on that.
The Bailiff:
I think it is a matter that I am capable of answering from the Chair. As Members may be aware, in the absence of the Governor the Bailiff of the day acts as Governor, so whoever is Bailiff from lunchtime today will be Governor of the Island until your successor is sworn in. Would you wish to continue with your speech? [Laughter]
His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton:
I just thought before I made some comments we ought to establish that fact. Of course it is very kind of you to allow me to speak for a third time now here in this Chamber. I have often been asked, as we have gone around our multitude of engagements, what I think of life in Jersey. That is just one example of the leading questions that I have been asked, along with: “What do you think of the decision made by the Government of Jersey” or: “How on earth did the States Assembly make that decision?” Well, I have not had the chance before this morning to express my views so I hope that you will indulge me just for a while, while I offer some considered ... sorry, what I meant to say was, I hope you would expect, and certainly I hope it has been the fact, that I have always tried to turn such questions back on the questioner and allow them to give me their point of view because I believe that is where I have been able to add most value, by listening to their concerns and their thoughts. It has not been role, and is not my role, to express my view on your decisions on government policy. What I would say then, if I may, is that people who send you here to represent them, to make those big decisions for them, do need to understand the reasons why you have made those decisions. Even when they do not necessarily always agree with them. As leaders of the community, you need to explain your decisions and to take the people with you otherwise they feel disconnected and disrespected. Communications of any form should never be an afterthought. It should be considered in parallel with any change of policy or new legislation. Equally, communications must be effective if it is to be of any use at all. To know that it is effective, those doing the communicating need to have some useful and realistic metrics by which to measure their effectiveness. During the many Emergencies Council meetings on COVID I remember being told that the messaging going out was being effective because there had been 1,376 hits on the relevant Twitter or should that be tweet? I put it to you that how many hits there are on Facebook or Twitter is not particularly useful in measuring the effectiveness of your communications. Why do I raise that issue here? Because, as I said a few minutes ago, many people have asked me, as I have gone around the community: “How do the States make that or this decision?” A functioning democracy relies on the people, the voters understanding why their representatives have made this law or that policy so that they can understand the rationale and not be left wondering why. I am sure I do not need to tell you so soon after an election campaign just what a critical part of leadership the ability and willingness to effectively communicate with people is for them. President Harry S. Truman once said: “Men and women make history and not the other way round.” In periods when there is a paucity of leadership society stands still. Progress occurs when the courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better and tell the people why they have done so. During our privileged time in your community, we have sought to get to meet people from across the fullest diversity of the population. We have not and could not have met people from all walks of life but that has not been for the lack of trying. That diversity in Jersey has changed considerably over the last 5 years and that change has been the result of many factors: Brexit, COVID, cost of living and the accommodation challenge. No, I am not straying into your swimming lanes. I have already said that is not my role. However, what I will do is to congratulate Jersey for the way it has accepted these new ethnic immigrants into your society and to integrate them into the Jersey community. For example, if we recall the fantastic self-motivated action of the Romanian community in standing up and operating the meals delivery service to a wide Jersey community from St. Luke’s church during the height of the COVID pandemic here. But also across the different faiths here. There was a great feeling of friendship and community and I congratulate the 2 Deans, the Jewish community leaders, Dr. Sarfraz, the leader of the Muslim faith group here in Jersey, the Methodist leaders, Graeme Glover, who is the leader of the Scottish church, and in so many ways, so many other people who have done so much to integrate people into our society here and to make them feel at home. Jersey has many people who give generous financial support to the wide charity sector here. But, as you know, there are many Islanders who do not have spare cash to give. However, we have been amazed and delighted in equal measure to find that many of these people, often new to the Island, quickly pick up on the Island’s giving culture and turn up to give their time to help when they do not have the money to contribute. This is a real plus for Jersey’s community and should be rightly celebrated. I also believe that by integrating these newcomers into all the communities across the Island, not allowing or encouraging them to live in a specific district, this will continue to enable them and Islanders to integrate positively and for everybody to continue to live in a connected, integrated and flourishing Island. One of the joys of my role is that you get to see so many good things, to visit some wonderful businesses, organisations and schools, not least the jewel in Jersey’s educational crown, which I believe to be Highlands College. Highlands has such potential and fulfils a vital role in providing vocational training to many Islanders. As well as allowing the others to catch up on their academics in which they may not have been ready to learn at the usual age in school. However, if may, Mr. Bailiff, I will use the opportunity to draw attention to the need to help your young people to be ready for the stress and strains of life in the 21st century. A few months ago I was asked to open a refurbished junior school. The refurbishment was beautiful, wonderful, and clearly had given that school a new lease of life. There are others much closer to us here who also need that same help. This school now has the facilities that you would want if you were sending your child there. However, I was shocked to be told by these very articulate and proud 10 year-olds, who gave us a tour of the school, when they highlighted that the school had 3 destressing rooms where they could go if they felt overawed or stressed. The language and the scale of the requirement was a genuine shock. Now I know that it is nearly 60 years since I was at that stage of schooling but nevertheless it was a real surprise and a worry. I know that youngsters face considerably more demands than I did when I was that age but for such a requirement to exist in a country Parish school is of concern. But so of course is the case of the youngsters who take their own lives. These issues all point to the need for a radical new look at how Jersey helps youngsters who grow up here to become more emotionally resilient, to handle the consequences of our connected and complex lives, and to help them to be ready to meet these modern challenges head on and not to be battered into submission by social media or the pressures of life in the 21st century. A new integrated and emotional well-being programme is needed - really needed - and it needs to build on the good ideas of some schools. Jersey is using specifically trained senior students to effectively mentor the more junior ones. A practice which is prevalent in one or 2 of the senior schools on the Island. I commend the intended workshop that will happen this week when all the prefects from across the Island of senior schools are gathering to share ideas on what support programmes might work and other related issues. Again, I hope you do not feel that in raising this I am straying out of my lane. But I do feel strongly that more can and should be done to help the next generation be prepared for the emotional pressures that they will meet in the real fast lane that is life. Living, as we do, on an Island, the weather and the wind in particular is never far from our thoughts. The famous writer William Arthur Ward once wrote: “A pessimist complains about the wind; an optimist expects the change to come; a realist adjusts the sails.” I hope that I am a realistic optimist, so if I may, as someone who has always looked for solutions to problems no matter how daunting, and I think has a reasonable grasp of the possible, a practical way forward as well, change does not come easy to people, especially to people who have a comfortable life and see no absolute need to change. In my experience, change is inevitable and needs to be embraced, not blindly or superficially, but fashioned to meet the needs of the enterprise concerned. In Jersey, the financial services are changing all the time, they must fashion their business to meet the external changes that are inevitable in a dynamic global enterprise. The key is to maintain the highest standards of scrutiny and regulation so that we can continue to sustain high reputation of solid and rigorous governments and active policing of the industry. Equally we see all around us here that the hospitality trade is changing and therefore Jersey’s offer must change to meet the change demand or otherwise it will die. The arrival of new offers, of new requirements must be embraced and I see impressive recognition of that for change here. While a period of significant change in any industry is uncomfortable, and the need is articulated and explained clearly, and a sound clear strategy is developed and communicated, most effectively the future could be brighter even if the tourist is not coming here for his 2-week beach holiday anymore. I see continuing drive and great enterprise every day here and with such energy and commitment new businesses will thrive and new jobs will continue to offer opportunities for Islanders. Critically the fundamental underpinning of society here is strong and alive. Whereas there is much more that can and should be done to ensure that all sectors of society can contribute to afford to live here, Jersey continues to offer a stable, law-abiding environment in which to live, work and grow up. It has a world-class education system which offers young people a diverse and range of opportunities.
[10:00]
The Cadet movement, not just the Air Training Corps and the sea cadets but the St. John ambulance cadets and the scouts and the girl guide movements are all incredibly strong in Jersey providing invaluable learning and fun experiences for the Island’s youngsters. But such organisations also impact the love of life, inherent discipline, determination, teamwork and drive, all of which are so important to give everybody the best opportunity going forward. Mr. Bailiff, Members of the Assembly, I trust I have not raised too many eyebrows in what I have said this morning and not too many people are thinking: “Thank goodness he is not going to speak here again.” Without being pejorative, it is now your job in the newly constituted Assembly to build the framework, the super and the substructure, to nurture the young leaders of tomorrow, to devise the environment in which they can grow and mature and one day be ready and eager to take their places where you sit today. This beautiful Island needs them, you have a job to do. I wish you the best of luck with it. Martin Luther King’s favourite quotation was: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others today.” You live on a beautiful Island with magnificent beaches, fantastic coastal paths, wonderful scenery, unique coastal waters, great woodland walks and a varied natural environment. I trust that you will find a way to protect them and to enhance them, to produce and implement and construct an effective plan. Please do because they are so precious and they do and will help all Islanders to live a better life. The challenges facing you are large but with a clear vision of what you are trying to do and what you are trying to achieve articulated effectively, with optimistic realism as your guide, and with Martin Luther King’s question in your mind you can make beautiful Jersey an even better place to live. Mr. Bailiff, Members of the Assembly, government officials and all who are listening across the Island, thank you for allowing Anne and I to share your beautiful, warm and welcoming Island for the last 5 years. It has been an absolute pleasure, a privilege, an honour to have been Her Majesty’s personal representative in Jersey. Now, I shall return to my normal muted position. [Approbation]
The Bailiff:
Thank you, your Excellency. That concludes the business of the Assembly. Accordingly, the Assembly stands adjourned until Tuesday, 5th July at 9.30 a.m.
[10:03]
