Designation of special occasions - Fête de Noué 2011
Ministerial Decision Report
Powers of the Minister and Connétables
Under the new Sunday trading scheme (specifically within the Shops (Regulation of Opening) (Jersey) Regulations 2011) large shops are allowed to open on up to five Sundays days per year, and smaller shops to open at the discretion of the Connétable.
Additionally, the Economic Development Minister is empowered to designate ‘special occasions’ on days of economic, social or cultural importance to Jersey, or on days on which important events are to be held[1]. This is not in itself a power to allow Sunday trading, but the designation of a ‘special occasion’ allows Connétables to grant blanket permits to shops in their Parish to trade on that day[2]. Connétables can achieve this by means of a notice in the Jersey Gazette.
Connétables have the power to determine which types of shop can trade, and can apply conditions on those shops as they would on a normal permit, including restrictions on opening hours, deliveries, parking arrangements, etc. Different conditions can be applied on different businesses according to their size and type.
The Fête de Noué 2011
With regard to the Fête de Noué this year, the Minister has decided to designate both Sundays within the Fête as special occasions, as well as the Sundays immediately before and after it. The result of this would be that Sundays 27th November, 4th December, 11th December and 18th December would be special occasions.
The Minister is minded to do so having considered various options. The 2011 situation is complicated by various factors as not only is it the transitional year, but the nature of the Fête de Noué has changed as it is no longer four weeks long but has returned to its two-week duration, as originally conceived.
Several years of the extended four-week Fête de Noué has raised expectations in the minds of retailers that not only will there be some degree of automatically permitted trading in the run-up to Christmas, but that it will be of comparable duration to that enjoyed in previous years.
The pre-Christmas opening has been enjoyed by the public and a considerable number of people have chosen to shop on these days in previous years.
The concept of granting only two Sundays within the Fête was considered, but engagement with retailers and other interested parties has revealed that numerous businesses would simply apply for additional days before and after the Fête to bring their pre-Christmas trading back to what they had enjoyed in previous years. This would have cost implications for retailers and would not reduce work for the parishes.
Having considered these issues, the Minister is of the opinion that the designation of the four Sundays detailed above is the best way to manage Christmas trading in 2011 with the minimum complexity bureaucracy and cost to retailers, and is in line with established public expectations.
There are no cost or manpower implications for the States.