12 July 2017
Islanders are being asked for their views on whether Jersey’s first shared, long-term vision is heading in the right direction.
A 12-week consultation begins today to gain public opinion on a series of proposed community, environmental and economic ambitions, which will shape the Island’s future over the next 20 years.
The long-term ambitions are set out in a discussion document called Future Jersey. They cover everything from crime levels and education, to water quality, traffic congestion, the cost of buying a home and migration. They were carefully chosen after taking into account Islanders’ hopes and aspirations for the Island – given through the successful My Jersey survey last year – and facts and figures on where Jersey currently stands.
Future Jersey is the final phase of the Shaping Our Future consultation, which was launched a year ago to engage the public in shaping Jersey’s first vision. So far, thousands of people have taken part and Chief Minister Senator Ian Gorst hopes Islanders will continue to show their support for the vision by sharing their views on the ambitions.
He said “The long-term vision will belong to Islanders and must reflect the future they want for themselves, and for their children and future generations. We will have to work together as a community to ensure that it becomes a reality and we can only do that if the vision has widespread support.
“The world is changing and Jersey cannot afford to stand still. Future Jersey provides us with an opportunity to step back from the politics of today, think about the sort of Island we want in the future and the challenges we face, such as an ageing population, protection for our green spaces and making Jersey more affordable.”
The long-term vision is based on ten Island Outcomes, which reflect the social, economic and environmental issues by which people judge Jersey as a place to live, such as their safety, health and wellbeing, getting good jobs and the quality of their environment. Underneath the outcomes are 58 Island Indicators, which will allow Islanders to monitor progress over time and compare Jersey with other places. The outcomes will not change - results such as ‘children have the best start in life’ will still be as important in 20 years’ time as they are today. But the scale of ambition against the indicators and the current trends they show, is what will set the direction of the vision, and ultimately serve as a guide to inform policies and actions in Jersey for the next two decades.
The options for each long-term ambition are to ‘continue’, ‘improve’ or ‘transform’ the current trend. Assistant Director for Strategic Planning Dr Ian Skinner said “The vision is about where we want to be in the future and ‘continuing’ progress against one indicator might prove just as challenging as ‘transforming’ another. By telling us whether they agree with the long-term ambitions, Islanders will help to ensure we are creating a credible, shared vision that takes us in the right direction.”
Upon taking office, each Council of Ministers over the next 20 years will look at the vision and how Jersey is progressing at that time, before setting its priorities, allocating resources and implementing delivery strategies to keep Jersey on course.
Future Jersey is available to view on the Shaping our Future website where Islanders can leave their feedback. Hard copies are also available at parish halls, the libraries in Town and at Les Quennevais, the States Bookshop and Cyril Le Marquand House reception. A larger print version of Future Jersey is available on this website.
The closing date for comments to be submitted is Wednesday 4 October 2017.
gov.je