Government of Jersey

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

A formal published “Ministerial Decision” is required as a record of the decision of a Minister (or an Assistant Minister where they have delegated authority) as they exercise their responsibilities and powers.

Ministers are elected by the States Assembly and have legal responsibilities and powers as “corporation sole” under the States of Jersey Law 2005 by virtue of their office and in their areas of responsibility, including entering into agreements, and under any legislation conferring on them powers.

An accurate record of “Ministerial Decisions” is vital to effective governance, including:

demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
providing a record of decisions and actions that will be available for examination by States Members, and Panels and Committees of the States Assembly; the public, organisations, and the media; and as a historical record and point of reference for the conduct of public affairs

Ministers are individually accountable to the States Assembly, including for the actions of the departments and agencies which discharge their responsibilities.

The Freedom of Information Law (Jersey) Law 2011 is used as a guide when determining what information is be published. While there is a presumption toward publication to support of transparency and accountability, detailed information may not be published if, for example, it would constitute a breach of data protection, or disclosure would prejudice commercial interest.

A decision made (01/06/2009) regarding: Law Drafting Brief - Draft Island Plan 2010.

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2009-0099
Decision Summary Title:	Island Plan Order 200- Law Drafting Brief		Date of Decision Summary:	12 May 2009
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Planning		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Oral and Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	Director of Planning
Written Report Title:	Island Plan Order 200- Law Drafting Brief		Date of Written Report:	12 May 2009
Written Report Author:	Director of Planning		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	public
Subject: Island Plan Order 200- Law Drafting Brief Order will prescribe the arrangements for submission of comments on the Draft Island Plan 2010 and for hearing representations at an Examination in Public
Decision(s): The Minister approved the Law Drafting Brief
Reason(s) for Decision: The Order is a legal requirement (Article 3, Planning and Building Law 2002)
Resource Implications: Law Drafting only. The Examination in Public will involve significant expenditure for which monies are set aside in the Island Plan vote
Action required: Instruct Law Draftsman
Signature:		Position Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Law Drafting Brief - Draft Island Plan 2010.

Law Drafting Instructions

Planning and Building (Island Plan) (Jersey) Order 2009

Article 3 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002, as amended .

Arrangements for hearing representations on the draft Island Plan at an Examination in Public

Article 3 of the Law requires the Minister to prepare, and present to the States for approval, an Island Plan. It also requires that in preparing the Plan (or a revision to the Plan), the Minister shall publicise his proposals and seek representations from the public.

Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Article require the Minister, by Order, to prescribe the manner in which:

The proposed Plan is publicised;

Representations may be provided by the public; and
The manner in which the representations may be heard in public.

Following the publication of the Island Plan Green Paper and consultation on it in 2008, the draft Island Plan is currently being written. It is intended to publish it May or June 2009.

The purpose of this Law Drafting Brief is to prescribe the procedures for the requirements under paragraph 2 above

Minister to publish Draft Island Plan proposals

When publishing the Draft Island Plan the Minister will publish notice that he has done so by announcement in a manner likely to bring to the attention of the public. The notice must –

State that the Minister intends to present to the States an Island Plan or an amendment to the existing Island Plan, as the case may be;

State where a copy of the Minister’s Proposals may be viewed or obtained; and
Invite written or electronically submitted representations in respect of the Minister’s proposals before a date specified in the notice. Such date mentioned must be for a period of not less than 8 weeks after the first publication of the notice.
Announce that the Minister is to hold an Examination in Public to enable representations about the Minister’s proposals to be heard in public

Minister to Consider Properly Made Representations

The Minister shall only consider representations that are properly made, and the Minister may invite any person so commenting to provide further written information.

Representations shall be properly made if they fulfil all of the following:

where representations are made on behalf of another party they must state who that party is and be with their signed consent;

the representation is received by the Minister no later than the date announced in the notice;
the representation is made on a form to be supplied by the Minster, supplying all of the details required on that form. Such a form may be electronic to facilitate on-line submission and administration. The form may set a word limit on representations and require a summary;
representations may be accompanied by supporting documents which are concise and do not contain irrelevant information;
the representation clearly states by reference to which specific part of the plan it is made;
the representation states whether the specific part of the plan is supported or objected to;
if the representation objects to a part of the plan the representation should, wherever practical, state how the plan can be amended to overcome the objection;
if the representation objects to a part of the plan that it must state why the plan does not meet the requirements of Article 3; and
includes contact details, including stated preference for means of contact if other than by electronic means. All written representations shall be in the public domain and will be published on-line.

Minister may Publish Amendments to the proposed Draft Plan

Having had regard to the properly made representations, the Minister may propose amendments to the published draft Island Plan. The reason for any amendments shall be clearly stated. This shall be called the Draft Revised Island Plan.

Any amendments shall be published in the manner as set out in paragraph 5 above with the exception that the period for representations shall be a minimum of 28 days.

Representations will be properly made if they are in accordance with paragraph 7 provided they are limited only to the Minister’s amendments. Representations on the remainder of the Plan will not be entertained at this stage.

Where properly made representations on the Minister’s proposed amendments make proposals which have not previously been subject to consultation, and the Minister is minded to accept them, the Minister shall publicise them and invite representations under the same terms and timescales as his earlier proposed amendments (see 9 and 10 above) prior to submitting them to the Inspector. If anyone makes representations about one of the amendments he/she will have a fair chance to submit evidence and be heard at the EIP.

Appointment of a Planning Inspector

No later than 4 months before the Examination in Public is intended to take place, the Minister will appoint a suitably qualified and independent experienced planning inspector to hold an examination in public into the properly made representations on the Draft Plan, on the Minister’s amendments to the Draft Plan, and any representations made on any new proposals made under paragraph 12 above. The Inspector may appoint an assistant inspector or administrative support to assist him with the examination in public.

The Minister, following consultation under paragraphs 11 and 12 above, shall immediately submit the proposed revisions to the Island Plan to the Inspector. At the same time the Minister shall also submit all background evidence relied on by the Minister and all properly made representations into the plan.

Examination in Public of the Draft Island Plan

The Inspector shall hold an Examination in Public (EIP) commencing as soon as practical after the closing period for representations to amendments to the draft plan.

The Inspector shall only consider representations that are properly made.

The Minister shall provide the Inspector before the procedural pre-examination meeting with a written analysis of the properly made representations together with a reasoned justification for the recommended selection of those matters which are recommended for consideration at the EIP. In so doing the Minister should have regard to the following matters:

representations which have been made about the adequacy of particular policies of significance to the Island and their justification;

issues involving significant controversy;
conflicts between the draft plan and other States policy.

The Inspector shall have full discretion as to the topics chosen for examination and the participants invited to the examination, as well as to the format and nature of the examination, and of the format of evidence to be submitted. The EIP need not cover each individual representation but the Inspector may choose to hold thematic hearings on general issues, at which specific matters may be considered. There is no right to be heard orally, but the Inspector may invite persons to appear if he considers they may help the balance of discussion.

The Inspector may, if he thinks it appropriate to do so, arrange an informal plenary session of the EIP to enable respondents who have not been invited to take part in the formal sessions to address the Inspector.

The Inspector shall consider all properly made representations as well as oral submissions made during the examination and any written submissions made at the request of the inspector prior to the close of the Examination. Submission of other evidence will not be accepted unless specifically requested by the Inspector.

Prior to the proposed opening of the EIP the Inspector may hold a pre-examination meeting to explain to participants how the examination is organised and to answer any questions. The date of the pre-examination meeting and proposed date of opening of the examination must be publicised by local advertisement.

The Inspector shall submit the draft topics for examination, list of invited participants and draft running order of the examination to all parties making properly made representations prior to the pre-examination meeting. Following the meeting, which will discuss arrangements for the examination, the Inspector will publish the final topics for examination, list of invited participants and final running order before the opening of the examination.

The Inspector may request the parties to submit summaries of their arguments before the EIP, by a date specified by the Inspector, and may also request briefing notes and other background material from the Minister or other participants. The Inspector may also invite parties to meet in advance of the EIP in order to seek to resolve or at least to narrow down issues which the Inspector believes might usefully be dealt with in that way.

The Examination shall be run in good order and the Inspector may require the removal of any party or parties at any time. The Inspector may adjourn and reopen the Examination at any time.

Following the close of the Examination in Public the Inspector shall complete a written report. This report should be concise and be submitted to the Minister.

The report of the Inspector shall solely be concerned with whether or not the proposed revisions to the Island Plan meet the purposes and requirements of a development plan set down by the Law at Articles 2 and 3, in relation to Government Objectives and the States Strategic Plan.

The report of the Inspector need not summarise individual representations but rather should cover the main issues.

The report of the Inspector should be in the form of his recommendations on the matters included in Articles 2 and 3 of the Law and what changes to the plan are necessary to meet the requirements of these articles. It shall be in the form capable of being included in a proposition by the Minister to the States to amend the draft revised Island Plan giving proposed wording and/or proposals map changes and reasons for those changes. The details of the Inspector’s changes may form an addendum to the report. The Minister is not bound to accept any changes or recommendations

If at any point prior to the EIP the inspector considers that it would be impossible to recommend changes to the plan without further evidence or consultation then the Inspector will ask for that evidence or consultation to be provided or take place. If it is during the EIP the Inspector can ask for the evidence and may adjourn or reconvene the EIP to deal with it.

The EIP shall be open to members of the public and the press. At the discretion of the Inspector any part of the examination may be publicly broadcast.

The Inspector may submit a draft of the report to the Minister solely for consideration of whether there have been any factual or typographic errors in the report. The revised report should be sent to the Minister as soon as reasonably possible.

Decision of the States to Adopt the Revised Island Plan

Following receipt of the final report of the Inspector the Minister shall publish the report and make it known to all of those who made properly made representations that it is available.

Following receipt of the final report of the Inspector, the Minister shall without undue delay lodge a proposition to approve the revised Island Plan with necessary amendments recommended by the Inspector where accepted by the Minister. Where the Minister disagrees with the Inspector’s findings he shall give reasons.

If States Members propose amendments to the lodged proposition regarding matters which have not been previously consulted upon, the Minister shall arrange a short consultation with a maximum period for response of 28 days. This shall be in the manner specified under Article 4. Responses shall be submitted to the Inspector who shall provide written comments to any substantive proposed amendments he has not previously considered as soon as reasonably possible prior to the States debate.

The States will consider the amendments to the Minister’s proposition in the normal manner.

PT: 12 May 2009