26 March 2018
Future Jersey – the Island’s first long-term, community vision – has been launched today (Monday, 26 March). It is based on the results of nearly two years of public consultation.
The vision is divided into ten big, social, environmental and economic outcomes, which affect Islanders’ quality of life, including safety, good health, affordable living and sustainable resources. These are broken down into a series of long-term ambitions, which Future Jersey will track progress towards over time.
Each new government can use Future Jersey to assess how the Island is progressing, and inform its priorities for its term of office, allocating resources and implementing delivery strategies in line with those priorities. Any private or voluntary organisation can also use the vision to think about how they affect the future of the Island.
The Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, said “The vision belongs to the whole community, and reflects Islanders’ hopes and ambitions. It sets a direction for the future, to guide planning and policy, and inform decisions taken by the Council of Ministers and government departments, partner agencies, businesses, charitable organisations and individuals – in fact, anyone who has a stake in Jersey’s future.
“Future Jersey is about where we want to be in 20 years’ time, not how we get there. We will need to work together, as a community, to have a positive impact on what our future looks like, and I am confident we can do this.”
The vision can be found on the States of Jersey website, where there is information about how it works and what it means for Jersey. The new webpages also show the Island’s current progress towards the outcomes. Whether Islanders are interested in traffic congestion levels, unemployment levels, or how satisfied people are with their housing, Future Jersey will show them what is doing well, and what needs attention.
Chief Executive Charlie Parker said “Future Jersey complements the work we are doing to develop one government service, working collaboratively to a common purpose, with clear accountability, responsibility and decision-making, at the right level in the organisation. The Future Jersey framework will help to ensure that Ministerial priorities for their four-year terms sit within a long-term approach – 20 or 30 years – as milestones on the road towards our collective ambition for Jersey.”
The vision has been welcomed by a range of social, environmental and economic stakeholders from within the community, including Melissa Nobrega, of Caring Cooks, who said “Future Jersey is certainly a catalyst for giving Islanders a better quality of life in the future. We are very much looking forward to seeing the vision start to be interpreted into clear deliverables.” Anne King, executive officer of the Jersey Consumer Council, said: “Future Jersey is a welcome and essential barometer upon which all of our futures can develop.”
Jon Carter, chief executive of Jersey Heritage, said “The vision will help us, and everyone who works for Jersey, to play our part in developing the community we all want to live in,” while Eliot Lincoln, president of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, said: “Any organisation, big or small, must be able to measure itself and set the course it wants to take against those measurements, if it wants to achieve anything more than what chance throws at it.”
Future Jersey
gov.je