Monday 11 March 2019

An Error in the Jersey Citizenship Supplement












It is gratifying to sometimes make small improvements where there are errors in official documents. By raising an FOI, I managed to correct an historical inaccuracy in the Jersey Citizenship Supplement, which was written in October 2014, and contained at least one glaring error. Clearly "regularly reviewed" (see reply below) didn't mean every year!

FOI Request

Who created the Jersey Citizenship Supplement and how often is it updated, and has it been checked by local historians?

I ask this because it currently says:

"The famous Jersey cow has been a ‘protected species’ for the last 200 years. No cattle imports are allowed in order to keep the breed pure, but through exports and husbandry elsewhere, the animal can be found in almost every country in the world."

The supplement says it dates "from October 2014". But in July 2008, the States of Jersey took the historic step of ending the ban on imports, and allowing the import of bull semen from any breed of cattle, although only semen that is genetically pure will enable the resultant progeny to be entered in the Jersey Herd Book. Cows other than Jerseys can now be seen in Island fields.

Response

The Jersey Citizenship Supplement was introduced in 2005 by the Chief Inspector of Immigration and this was aligned to similar supplements introduced in the other Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Isle of Man.

The supplement guide and the supplement questions were introduced with the input from a local historian from the Jersey Museum and have been regularly reviewed. However we are grateful for your note in relation to the cattle imports to Jersey referred to in the supplement guide, which has been overlooked and will now be rectified.

Changes

The text now says:

"The famous Jersey cow was a ‘protected species’ for 200 years. No cattle imports were allowed in order to keep the breed pure, but through exports and husbandry 14 elsewhere, the animal can be found in almost every country in the world. It is highly valued for its rich milk content and production. However, in July 2008 the States of Jersey took the historic step to amend legislation to allow the importation of bovine semen into Jersey, although semen that is genetically pure will enable the resultant progeny to be entered in the Jersey Herd Book. Cows other than Jerseys can now be seen in Island fields."

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