Planning and Building (Island Plan) (Jersey) Order 2009: Law Drafting instructions

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

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A decision made on 23 January 2020

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2020-0015
Decision Summary Title:	Amendment to Planning and Building (Island Plan) (Jersey) Order 2009		Date of Decision Summary:	20 January 2020
Decision Summary Author:	Principal Policy Planner – Strategic Policy, Planning & Population		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title:	Appointment of Island Plan inspectors		Date of Written Report:	20 January 2020
Written Report Author:	Principal Policy Planner		Written Report:	Public
Subject: Amendment to the Planning and Building (Island Plan) (Jersey) Order 2009 to permit the appointment of persons who are already employed by the Government of Jersey as independent planning inspectors to consider the examination in public of a draft Island Plan.
Decision: The Minister accepted the recommendations contained in the written report and resolved to seek the necessary changes to the Planning and Building (Island Plan) (Jersey) Order 2009 at the earliest opportunity. The Minister instructed officers to prepare appropriate instructions for the Principal Legislative Drafter to draft an amendment to the Island Plan Order to allow a States’ employee, who is currently (or was recently) employed as an independent, professional planning inspector to consider planning appeals under the auspices of Article 107 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002, to be considered for appointment as an inspector to consider an examination in public of a draft Island Plan.
Resource Implications: None: The Minister holds the vires to revise or amend an Order by Ministerial Decision.
Action required: Request the Principal Legislative Drafter to make the appropriate revisions to the Planning and Building (Island Plan) (Jersey) Order 2009, as outlined in his decision, as soon as practically possible.
Signature: Deputy John H Young		Position: Minister for the Environment
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Planning and Building (Island Plan) (Jersey) Order 2009: Law Drafting instructions

Report to the Minister for the Environment:

Appointment of Island Plan inspectors

Background

1.1 The Island Plan Review Team is currently progressing a review of the 2011 Island Plan (revised 2014) and, following an extensive phase of public and stakeholder consultation into potential strategic options, will shortly be commencing the drafting of a new Island Plan to cover the period 2021 – 2030.

1.2 The Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 requires that the Minister must, by Order, prescribe the manner in which representations may be heard in public [1]. The Planning and Building (Island Plan)(Jersey) Order 2009 prescribes the appointment and role of an inspector in respect of conducting an examination in public [2] (EiP).

1.3 Article 107 of the P&B Law states that an inspector shall be appointed as an employee of the States. The P&B (Island Plan) Order, 2009 excludes any States’ employee from being appointed to conduct the EiP.

1.4 The IPR team is now inviting expressions of interest from appropriately qualified and independent planning inspector(s) to lead the EiP, currently scheduled for late 2020 early 2021.

Issue

2.1 To date, only limited response has been received to the team’s quest for suitably qualified and independent inspectors. The team is cognisant, however, that the States’ Employment Board (SEB) currently employs a ‘pool’ of eight independent, professional inspectors, appointed by the Minister for the Environment, for the purposes of considering appeals against decisions on planning applications. Under the current legal framework the Minister is unable to consider any expression of interest from this existing pool of independent inspectors.

2.2 Given that the primary Law requires appointed inspectors to be States’ employees, and that the IP Order does not permit a States’ employee to be so appointed, it is not possible to simply amend an existing inspector’s Contract of Employment to give him / her the authority to conduct an EiP.

Conclusion

3.1 The independent inspectors retained by the SEB have a good working knowledge of Jersey’s planning laws, policies and unique island context. It would be advantageous to the Island Plan project if the retained inspectors were not automatically excluded from the EiP inspector selection process.

3.2 An amendment to the IP Order could allow a States’ employee who is currently (or was recently) employed as an independent, professional planning inspector to be considered for appointment as an EiP inspector.

Financial and legal implications

4.1 The Minister for the Environment holds the vires to make an amendment to the Planning and Building (Island Plan)(Jersey) Order 2009.

4.2 There are no significant financial or legal implications likely to arise upon a request to amend the Order.

Recommendation

5.1 That the Minister notes this report and gives the authority to the Island Plan Review Team to prepare appropriate drafting instructions for an amendment to the IP Order to allow a States’ employee, who is currently (or was recently) employed as an independent, professional planning inspector to consider planning appeals under the auspices of Article 107 of the P&B(J)Law, to be considered for appointment as an EiP inspector.

Report prepared by: Alistair Coates

Principal Policy Planner

Date: 20 January 2020

[1] Article 3(5) of the P&B Law 2002

[2] Article 7 of the P&B Island Plan Order 2009