Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Jersey) Order: Law Drafting instructions

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

A formal published “Ministerial Decision” is required as a record of the decision of a Minister (or an Assistant Minister where they have delegated authority) as they exercise their responsibilities and powers.

Ministers are elected by the States Assembly and have legal responsibilities and powers as “corporation sole” under the States of Jersey Law 2005 by virtue of their office and in their areas of responsibility, including entering into agreements, and under any legislation conferring on them powers.

An accurate record of “Ministerial Decisions” is vital to effective governance, including:

demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
providing a record of decisions and actions that will be available for examination by States Members, and Panels and Committees of the States Assembly; the public, organisations, and the media; and as a historical record and point of reference for the conduct of public affairs

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The Freedom of Information Law (Jersey) Law 2011 is used as a guide when determining what information is be published. While there is a presumption toward publication to support of transparency and accountability, detailed information may not be published if, for example, it would constitute a breach of data protection, or disclosure would prejudice commercial interest.

A decision made on 1 December 2017:

Ministerial decision reference MD-C-2017-0145
Decision summary title Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Order 201- Law Drafting Instructions
Decision summary author	Policy Principal	Is the decision summary public or exempt?		Public
Report title Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Order 201- Law Drafting Instructions
Report author or name of person giving report	Policy Principal	Is the report public or exempt?		Public
Decision and reason for the decision The Chief Minister agreed to instruct the Law Draftsman to draft the Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Order 201-. The Order will amend the existing Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 2013 to introduce an additional exemption category. The new exemption will enable persons who have ‘registered’ status under the Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law 2012 and are the co-habiting partners of persons with ‘licensed’ status employed in specified professions - nurses, midwives, and social workers - to be exempt for the purposes of counting toward the maximum number of registered persons permitted to be employed by an undertaking. This decision has been taken as a means of providing assistance to the Health and Social Services Department who are currently experiencing difficulties in recruiting children’s social workers, nurses and midwives, and will be reviewed by the Minister in December 2018.
Resource implications There are no resource implications of this decision.
Action required The Law Draftsman to be instructed to draft the Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Order 201-.
Signature			Position Senator Paul Routier M.B.E. Assistant Chief Minister

Date signed			Effective date of the decision

Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Jersey) Order: Law Drafting instructions

Written Report: Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Order 2017 – Law Drafting Instructions

Under the Control of Housing and Work (Residential and Employment Status) (Jersey) Regulations 2013, the spouse or civil partner of a person with the residential and employment status of Entitled, Licensed or Entitled for Work Only is themselves granted Entitled for Work Only status, allowing them access to the labour market without the requirement for businesses to have permission to employ them.

Where a couple are not married or in a civil partnership, the partner who does not have Licensed, Entitled for Work Only or Entitled residential and employment status is only eligible to the residential and employment status of Registered. This means that businesses must use one of their ‘Registered’ permissions in order to employ the person, or make specific application to the Population Office for additional ‘Registered’ permissions if they have insufficient capacity within their existing business licence.

It is proposed that the co-habiting partners of people employed in specified professional groups (Children’s Social Work) be given exempt status for employment purposes only, such that businesses do not need permissions to employ them. This is primarily in order to support the recruitment and retention of staff in specified professions, specifically in sectors experiencing recruitment and retention issues. Anecdotal evidence from the Health and Social Services Department suggests an increasing number of people from outside of the island, who have been offered employment within key local service areas such as Children’s Social Services, are refusing those offers due to the lack of certainty about the ability of their co-habiting partners to gain suitable employment in Jersey.

The proposed Order will amend the Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 2013 in respect of the number of Registered persons who may be disregarded by an undertaking for the purpose of complying with the undertaking’s business licence. Under Article 27(1) of the Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law 2012 (“Law”), the maximum number of Registered or Licensed persons who can be employed by an undertaking is specified as a condition of the undertaking’s business licence. Article 27(3) of the Law allows the Minister to prescribe descriptions of individual who may be disregarded for the purpose of complying with this condition. The Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Jersey) Order 2013 prescribes several descriptions of individual who may be disregarded for this purpose.

This proposed Order will add a further description of individuals who may be disregarded. It refers to any Registered person who has been ordinarily and continuously resident in Jersey for a period of less than 5 years, provided that they are the co-habiting partner of a person who has Entitled, Entitled for Work Only or Licensed status, that person being employed in a specified profession; and was the co-habiting partner of that person at the point at which that person was offered a job in the specified profession.

Provision will be made for an accompanying Schedule to be created listing the groups of specified professions to which this exemption relates to. In the first instance only registered children’s social workers, nurses and midwives will be listed, and any further additions will be subject to evidence of a shortage of skilled workers, and that adding the profession will result in a change In addition, it will also depend on being satisfied that sufficient efforts are being made to identify people with Entitled for Work Only or Entitled residential and employment status, including evidence of having invested in training people with this status.

Once a Registered person has been ordinarily and continuously resident in Jersey for a period of 5 years the person acquires Entitled for Work Only status under the Control of Housing and Work (Residential and Employment Status) (Jersey) Regulations 2013.

This is an interim measure in response to the current difficulty the Health and Social Services Department are experiencing in recruiting children’s social workers, nurses and midwives, and should be reviewed by the Minister at the end of 2018, with any extension being contingent on being satisfied that sufficient efforts are being made to identify people with Entitled for Work Only or Entitled residential and employment status, including evidence of having invested in training people with this status to address difficulties in recruiting.

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