Delegation of Statutory Powers: Amendment

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A decision made on 13 October 2009 to amend the delegation of Statutory Powers.

Decision Ref:	MD–PE–2009-0164
Subject:	Delegation of Statutory Powers: amendment
Decision Summary Title:	DS - Delegation of Statutory Powers: amendment
DS Author:	Kevin Pilley – Assistant Director
DS Date:	09 October 2009	DS Status:	Public
Written Report Title:	WR – Delegation of Statutory Powers: amendment
WR Author:	Kevin Pilley – Assistant Director
WR Date	09 October 2009	WR Status:	Public
Oral Rapporteur:	Kevin Pilley – Assistant Director
Decision(s):	The Minister for Planning and Environment decided that; officers be given delegated powers under Article 51 and 52 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 in relation to Sites of Special Interest; the Delegation Agreement be amended to deal with minor anomalies, as set out in the report.
Reason(s) for Decision:	To give effect to an earlier decision of the Minister to delegate powers relating to the Listing of Sites of Special Interest to officers, where appropriate; To address specific anomalies in the current Delegation Agreement, as set out in the report.
Legal and Resource Implications:	The Minister is empowered to delegate powers to officers under Article 28 of the States of Jersey Law 2005..
Action required:	Update the Delegation Agreement; Forward the revised Delegation Agreement to the Greffier of the States for presentation to the States.
Signature:
Position:	Minister for Planning and Environment
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different to Date Signed):

Delegation of Statutory Powers: Amendment

PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT

Delegation of Statutory Powers

Amendment

Purpose of the Report

This purpose of this report is to amend the Delegation of Statutory Powers to accord with an earlier decision of the Minister to delegate powers in respect of the Listing of Sites of Special Interest and the associated serving of Notices or Intent.

Background

At his meeting on 14 September 2009, the Minister for Planning and Environment considered the Business Case for the Review of the Protection Regime for Jersey’s Historic Environment. In so doing, the Minister agreed, inter alia, that it was appropriate for power to be delegated to officers to:

issue Notices of Intent to List or Remove Sites of Special Interest;
List or Remove from the List of Sites of Special Interest, buildings or places, where they were non-contentious.

The Decision Summary (MD-PE-2009-0151) relating to this matter, is attached at Appendix 1.

To give effect to this decision, there is a need to amend the Delegation of Statutory Powers.

Discussion and recommendation

In light of the Minister’s earlier decision (at appendix 1), an amended Delegation of Statutory Powers is attached at appendix 2, with proposed changes tracked.

The principal amendment proposed is that officers be given powers under Article 51 and 52 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 in relation to Sites of Special Interest. These articles are set out at appendix 3.

The effect of this is that officers would be able to decide:

on the inclusion or exclusion on the List of Sites of Special Interest of buildings or places considered to have public importance, where no representations have been submitted or where those representations are not material to determining the special interest of the building or place;

on the serving of Notices of Intent to include or exclude buildings or places on the List of Sites of Special Interest considered to have public importance;

There are some existing anomalies in the existing Delegation Agreement, and the opportunity has been taken to revise these at the same time. These include the following:

1.5d Delegated Powers under the Planning and Building (Environmental Impact) Jersey Order 2006 should relate to Principal Planners in Development Control, not all Principal Planners;

1.6 under Article 28 of the States of Jersey Law 2005, the Minister can only delegate powers to an Assistant Minister or an officer. Delegation of powers under the High Hedges (Jersey) Law 2008 to the Planning Applications Panel is not, therefore, legal and should be deleted from the Delegation Agreement. Likewise, and amendment to reflect such is required at 3.3;

1.7 Delegation in relation to Art 25 Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 (related to Planning Obligations) should relate to both Assistant Directors (Planning).

Reason(s) for Decision

To give effect to an earlier decision of the Minister to delegate powers relating to the Listing of Sites of Special Interest to officers, where appropriate;
To address specific anomalies in the current Delegation Agreement, as set out in the report.

Legal and resource implications

The Minister is empowered to delegate powers to officers under Article 28 of the States of Jersey Law 2005.

Action Required

Update the Delegation Agreement;
Forward the revised Delegation Agreement to the Greffier of the States for presentation to the States.

Written by:	Kevin Pilley, Assistant Director

Endorsed by:	Peter Thorne, Director