ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Amendment to Delegation of Fisheries Functions
Purpose of the Report
For the Minister to approve a revised set of Delegated Powers to assist in the delivery of improved customer service and effective management of commercial fishing.
Background
Article 28 of the States of Jersey Law 2005 enables a Minister to delegate functions:-
(1) A Minister may delegate, wholly or partly, functions conferred upon or vested in the Minister by or under this Law or any other enactment or any enactment of the United Kingdom having effect in Jersey, to –
(a) one of his or her Assistant Ministers;
(b) an officer.
(2) A Minister shall not delegate –
(a) any power to make an enactment;
(b) any power to decide an appeal under an enactment;
(c) any function the delegation of which is prohibited by an enactment.
(3) The delegation of functions by a Minister under this Article shall not prevent the Minister exercising those functions personally.
Definition –
“officer” means a person employed under the Civil Service Administration (Jersey) Law 1948 whose duties are wholly or mainly administrative, professional, technical or clerical and includes a member of the States of Jersey Police Force and an officer appointed under paragraph 1(1) of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 as extended to Jersey by the Immigration (Jersey) Order 1993.
On 27 September 2012, the Minister approved a revised set of delegated functions in relation to fisheries Regulations. These delegations were contained in a schedule attached to the accompanying report to MD-E-2012-0108.
On 15 October 2013 the Sea Fisheries (Licensing of Fishing Boats) (Amendment No. 6) (Jersey) Regulations 2013 became effective and introduced new Regulations relating to classes of fishing vessel licences and permits. The purpose of this decision is to amend the delegated powers to include a delegation in respect of the new Regulations so that classes of licence and permits can be determined rapidly to assist in the delivery of improved customer service and effective management of commercial fishing.
Details
The Sea Fisheries (Licensing of Fishing Boats) (Amendment No. 6) (Jersey) Regulations 2013 was introduced to enable the Minister to publish routine fishing vessel licence conditions on a Website, as opposed to being sent out in hard copy. The Minister will be using this facility to publish licence conditions that relate to the permissible quotas of key species and these quotas depend on what class of licence is held by the owner of a fishing vessel.
Classes of licence need to mirror those used by the United Kingdom in respect of UK licensed fishing vessels and depend on such factors as length, membership of a Producer Organisation and entitlement to target species. Whilst there are a limited number of basic parameters for the setting of classes, several combined factors can be taken into account for different quota uptake situations and it is therefore important that a flexible and responsive system is introduced for the defining of such classes. This delegation will facilitate such a system.
Whilst introducing the new delegation, the opportunity has also been taken to correct the titles of existing nominated officers to reflect recent restructuring within the Marine Resources Section.
Recommendation
The Minister is recommended to approve the delegated functions listed in the attached schedule.
Written by: | Assistant Director Marine Resources |
| |
Approved by: | Director, Environmental Management and Rural Economy |
Ministerial Decision Case Ref: MD-E-2013-0118