Student Accommodation for those returning for Christmas 2020: Covid-19

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A decision made 27 November 2020:

Decision Reference: MD-ESC-2020-0017
Decision Summary Title:	The provision of Government of Jersey funded accommodation for students returning Christmas 2020		Date of Decision Summary:	26 November 2020
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Office		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	The provision of Government of Jersey funded accommodation for students returning Christmas 2020 – Governance Process		Date of Written Report:	26 November 2020
Written Report Author:	Head of Office		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The provision of Government of Jersey funded accommodation for students returning Christmas 2020
Decision(s): The Assistant Minister has approved a policy variation and the governance process for an exception to the Government of Jersey’s isolation policy to make available the provision of accommodation support for returning higher education students for Christmas 2020 in exceptional circumstances.
Reason(s) for Decision: To ensure the governance process for the allocation of Government of Jersey support for accommodation is clear and accessible.
Resource Implications: In accordance with the decision made by the Competent Authorities on 11 November 2020, up to £30,000 has been allocated to provide accommodation support for returning students.
Action required: The Assistant Minister for Education to decide on successful applications. Applications to proceed and accommodation to be provided where appropriate in accordance with the governance process in the written report.
Signature:		Position: Deputy Jeremy Maçon Assistant Minister for Education
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Student Accommodation for those returning for Christmas 2020: Covid-19

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Ministerial Decision – Report

The provision of Government of Jersey funded accommodation for students returning Christmas 2020 – Governance Process

At a meeting of the Competent Authorities Ministers on 11 November 2020 the below recommendations were approved:

Secure up to 30 Liberty Apartments for use by returning Higher Education students, for a maximum period of 14 days each at a total potential cost of £30,000. Costs not to be incurred unless apartments are occupied; and

Monitor the number of returning HE students requiring self-isolation accommodation and scaling up access to Liberty Apartments to meet demand, as required, based upon the data received.

Accommodation is to be made available on the basis of the Assistant Minister for Education’s variation of current policy guidance to allow those returning students who are demonstrably unable to meet the isolation guidance as published on gov.je (see Isolation Guidance) to have provision made for them on the basis of exceptionality.

The isolation guidance currently requires all people within the following categories to isolate:

Individuals returning to the island from a green, amber or red region.
Individuals who have been identified as a direct contact of a confirmed case.
Individuals who are a confirmed case and have COVID.
Individuals who are waiting for hospital treatment.

Possible reasons why a returning student is not able to meet the isolation guidance within their own accommodation could include, but is not limited to, the following:

There is a member of their household that is shielding.
It would impact on a sibling attending school.
It would impact on a member of the household attending work.

There is currently no provision in Government of Jersey policy to assist with accommodation for people required to isolate in accordance with the isolation guidance.

The following governance process will be used for the allocation of Government funded accommodation:

Each application for accommodation will initially be reviewed by the Youth Enquiry Service team.

Information will be collated and sent on for further review by the Principal Youth Officer. This will ascertain whether the applicant student is able to isolate in accordance with the published guidance.

If it is believed the applicant student can meet the isolation guidance a formal notification will be sent explaining the reason for the rejection of their application for accommodation support. Rejected applicants can appeal directly to the Assistant Minister for Education Deputy Maçon.

For students who can demonstrably evidence an inability to follow the isolation guidance, a formal notification will be sent asking them to confirm the reasons for their application. The applicant will be required to agree formally their reasons and asked to confirm that they understand that the provision of incorrect information could lead to the withdrawal of the offer of accommodation.

Once confirmation has been received, all case material will be presented to the Director General of CYPES for consideration and for a recommendation to be made to the Assistant Minister for Education Deputy Maçon as delegated by the Minister for Education, as to whether Government of Jersey accommodation support should be provided to the applicant. For all rejected applications, a formal notification will be sent to explain the reasoning for the rejection of their application for accommodation support.

The Assistant Minister for Education Deputy Maçon will make the decision as to whether to apply ‘exceptionality’ to the isolation policy and provide Government of Jersey accommodation support to returning students.

All accepted applications will be passed to the 1GCTeam for processing and onboarding.

For all applications rejected by the Assistant Minister for Education, Deputy Maçon, there is no appeal due to the Assistant Minister having consider the application.

Recommendation

In the context of varying current policy guidance, the Assistant Minister for Education, Deputy Maçon, is recommended to approve the governance process detailed in this report