Women Bishops in Jersey: Blocked by Clergy and Laity!

The new Bishop of Dover, who is responsible for the Channel Islands, has been appointed by the Queen. Rev. Dr Rose Hudson-Wilkin is the first ever female black Bishop appointed by the Church of England and was introduced to the diocese by the Archbishop of Canterbury today (28 June).

Reverend Hudson-Wilkin was born in Jamaica and is a former long-serving speaker at the House of Commons. She also worked as a chaplain for the Queen and led prayers at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018. The Church of England has not yet announced whether she will be visiting the Channel Islands in the near future.

-- Channel Television News:

ITV News made a mistake recently in the reporting of the next Bishop of Dover as having jurisdiction over the Channel Islands. This is not in fact the case. And thereby lies a sorry tale of delay, prejudice, fundamentalism, misogyny, and a personal conflict between a Bishop and a Dean, with sides taken, which does no credit at all to any institution which is supposed to be devoted to love and reconciliation.

The main problem goes back to when Tim Dakin was appointed Bishop of Winchester and inherited a particular legacy issue from his predecessor. This was about a complaint by a churchgoer about a church warden which had been badly handled by the Dean of Jersey, Robert Key.

The ins and outs of that sorry saga have been well documented elsewhere and I will not repeat them now. The one thing I know is that dwelling on them cause grief to the lady concerned. However I will say this much. Having commissioned a report to investigate what had gone wrong, the Bishop of Winchester then ended up with the report landing on his desk. What should he do? If he suppressed the report and it did not see publication, and it later emerged that such a report had been commissioned and existed, how would safeguarding in Winchester appear? On the other hand if the report were to be published, it was clear that action would need to be taken. 

Probably the wisest course of action would have been to refer the matter upstairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury. But instead he decided to take action himself by suspending the commission of the Dean of Jersey to practice. Maybe he saw it as cowardly to "pass the buck". As he is now heavily protected by a team of PR consultants, we will probably never know.

This suspension awoke the anger of the clergy of Jersey and some of the lay people who saw this as an unwarranted interference in the local affairs of the church - a hasty reaction which did not consider the merits of the case [and which overlooked a churchwarden being "chaperoned" for being too tactile, which should have rung warning bells]. 

The end result was a very visible falling out between Winchester and Jersey, under which Guernsey, still also under the diocese of Winchester, got dragged in.

With accusations and tempers flying high, the end result was satisfactory to no one.The Dean apologised for making mistakes and the suspension was lifted. Further reports were commissioned which found that no disciplinary action should be taken against the Dean. By a clever piece of spin by some Jersey laity, this was taken as meaning that the Dean had been exonerated. It did not. All that meant was the than mistakes he made were not so severe as to warrant disciplinary action.

Meanwhile something had to be done regarding the toxic relation between the Bishop of Winchester and the clergy and Dean of Jersey. The solution of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was to bring the Channel Islands under the oversight of the Bishop of Dover, Trevor Willmott (popularly known in clergy circles as “Tricky Trevor”).

The legal document for this arrangement is complex and also involves Bishop Trevor being appointed as an assistant Bishop within the diocese of Winchester. Clearly the lawyers were taking no chances as to the legitimacy of this oversight. It's a tricky piece of legalese which can argue that Bishop Trevor had oversight both as Bishop of Dover, and by his links to the Bishop of Winchester.

During this period of oversight, women bishops were approved in the Church of England – in 2014. UK Canon law changed. This was rapidly followed by changes in Canon law in the Isle of Man in 2015. But nothing happened in the Channel Islands.

The Canon law of Jersey says that the bishop has to be a man. When the newly revised law was brought in by Bob Key, there was no reason to specified the gender of the Bishop, except as a rearguard holding action against the introduction of female Bishops into the Channel Islands, and particularly into Jersey. 

As far as I have been able to ascertain, the Dean at the time, Bob Key, was opposed to the changes on pragmatic grounds. His own words that on voting on the law permitting Women Bishops in the church of England was that "My concern is that this particular legislation, not the principle, but this particular legislation does not give enough safeguards for good Christian people who can't accept the ministry of a woman bishop.” . Canon Law in Jersey, by specifying the gender of a Bishop was a neat pre-emptive strike.

When Bishop Trevor retired as Bishop of Dover he retained his appointment as Assistant Bishop of Winchester, with oversight for the Channel Islands. Meanwhile changes in Jersey Canon law were cleverly tied into the complex arrangements between Jersey, Winchester and Canterbury.While the law could have been easily changed, it is clear that by tying them into a resolution of those arrangements, it ensured further delay. 

This means that the new Bishop of Dover could come to the Channel Islands, but would have no legitimacy as a Bishop within Jersey, because of the lack of changes in Jersey Canon law.

There is a activist contingent of lay folk and clergy within Jersey who are both resolutely opposed to women bishops, indeed also question the legitimacy of women priests as well. They will do anything in their power to prevent this, and so far have been singularly successful in delaying any changes in the Channel Islands.

It is unlikely that they will succeed in the long-term but they may yet succeed in delaying the legitimate authority of women bishops in the Channel Islands for at least another decade. Some of those with legal skills have even been involved in the task of drawing up changes to Canon law - which not surprisingly have stalled! This contingent see this as their god given Christian duty to not recognise the role of women in leadership roles, despite that being accepted in the Church of England.

But there is absolutely no need to link changes in diocese with the changes in Jersey Canon law. It has been argued - and I have been told myself - that it will be easier to do everything at once. This is a specious argument which serves only as a means of delay. It is to be hoped that at some point this prevarication will be seen as the duplicitous argument that it is. The case of the Isle of Man shows that changes can be made easily and quickly where there is a will. If anyone says it is better to make all the changes in one go, ask them: why we can't we do as the Isle of Man has done, and make one important change now?

Perhaps it might be instructive to ask the new Bishop of Dover what she thinks about the fact that if she comes to visit the Channel Islands during her stay she is effectively stripped of all rights and legitimacy as a Bishop in the Church of England. She cannot ordain clergy. She cannot confirm young adults. She cannot be introduced in church services as a Bishop - with all the rights of a Bishop in the Church of England - visiting Jersey. She is effectively reduced to the status of Parish priest the moment she sets foot on Jersey soil.

I think that is an appalling situation and one which has gone on for far too long. We are now almost 9 years since the Church of England gave women the right to be Bishops, and 8 years since the Isle of Man followed. And instead we are governed by a legal fudge, and all kinds of horse trading and delay behind the scenes. I am sure that St Paul would have had strong words to say about this sorry state of affairs.

Breaking News

From "The Church Times", June 28: "AN ARCHBISHOP’s Commission examining the relationship between the Channel Islands and the Church of England will issue its final report later this year, after completing a consultation on the islands."

This is a report, not a decision.! More delay!

Mike Keirle (on FB) on the ITV Article: Sorry but that isn't accurate as Bishop Trevor continues to have oversight as Assistant Bishop of Winchester until such times as the Commission determines the future flourishing of the Channel Island Deaneries.

Yet strictly speaking there is no reason to link the change in Canon Law on Women Bishops to this ongoing event, which would put even Charles Dicken's Jarndyce v Jarndyce to shame.

Night of The Big Heat

Climate change means extreme weather events such as many more heatwaves, and of longer duration, will become more frequent. So this poem looks at this when it is 30C outside. It is also a pinch of the title for a movie of the same name, set on a small Island where temperatures soar. That, of course, was caused by aliens, but this is all of our own making.

Night of The Big Heat

Heat came that day, burning the land
Thermals, winds in the jet stream
Blowing across the hot sahara sand
Stratosphere howls in red hot scream

Feet blistered on the poor beachgoer
Sea warm with jelly fish in the shallows
As the day heats, everything is slower
Climate change is a corpse on the gallows

Longer and hotter spells of extreme heat
Technology bringing the year of the burn up
Take a siesta, find the shade, admit defeat
Who can take and drink such a boiling cup

The Night of the Big Heat has come to stay
And the Red Death has come to slay

Islanders Health during the Occupation - Part 4

By way of something off the beaten track, here's final part of the report on the health of the Islanders during the occupation, published in 1945, after the war had ended.

A note on drugs mentioned: Sulfonamide drugs were the first antibacterials to be used systemically, and paved the way for the antibiotic revolution in medicine. As the first and only effective antibiotic available in the years before penicillin, sulfa drugs continued to thrive through the early years of World War II.

However, the sulphonamides were soon surpassed by penicillin, which had fewer side-effects and could treat syphilis and sulphonamide-resistant infections. Nevertheless, despite these limitations, the sulphonamides drugs were arguably more important in revolutionising medicine than penicillin, as they achieved the first real success in the war against bacteria.

MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH: ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1945. 

OCCUPATION INCIDENTS.

The Occupation threw much unusual work on the Department and gave rise to many and varied incidents.

The sanitary side of the German Army, at any rate as far as Jersey was concerned, was very inefficient indeed. It was quite common to get complaints of a smell from the neighbour of a house occupied by the Germans. On investigation, we would find that there was a septic tank and soak away which had been constructed to deal with say six people, and the Germans had installed thirty of their men. In a short time the ground was flooded with sewage.

I have seen a garden a foot deep in it, and yet the German occupants had taken no notice! We reported to the German Authorities and sent our machines to clean up the mess in the interest of our own community.

Another odd act of insanitary behaviour was the construction of a concrete privy at the Pavilion within a few feet of an inspection chamber where a perfectly good drain connection could be made. Here again our protest secured its removal and the construction of more sanitary arrangements.

On another occasion, the water supply of a battery overlooking St. Ouen’s was sent to the Laboratory for bacteriological analysis. It gave results reminiscent of sewage. The Germans were very puzzled and asked us to investigate.

We found that the battery was pumping water from a stream, and less than a mile upstream, the O.T. had built it Privy over it.

The complete lack of sanitary supervision of small parties of their soldiers in commandeered houses or in batteries was extraordinary and to me quite unexpected after my experience of the stringent precautions taken by our own forces in the first world catastrophe.

The camps they built for their slave workers had the most primitive of sanitary arrangements, which gave them no end of trouble.

One could go on recording things of this type for a long time but it would be monotonous. When one considers the reputation of the Germans for science and cleanliness, it is all the more remarkable that plain common or garden sanitary sense should be lacking.

DRUGS

At the beginning of the Occupation we were allowed, in fact, encouraged, to buy drugs from Germany. German firms even sent us advertising letters. But gradually it became more and more difficult to get such supplies, and shortly afar the introduction of a quarterly ration from France in January 1942, all purchases front Germany were prohibited. A small illegal trickle conduced however.

One German doctor, who found his pay too small, supplemented it by bringing a suitcase full of valuable and expensive drugs back with him each time he returned from leave. These he sold to me for the use of the Hospital.

The transaction was not strictly legal, but the drugs were valuable, so ways and means were found.

Early in the Occupation, the pharmacists got together and formed the " Chemists' Pool ". They arranged for Madame Labesse to go to France to make the necessary contacts with French wholesale houses for the supply of drugs. These contacts stood us in good stead throughout the five years of the Occupation. All orders for drugs had to be approved by the Imports and Exports Advisory Board, of which I was a member ; they then went to the Department of Essential Commodities, and through them to our buyer in France.

There was some delay, but the goods did arrive in not unreasonable quantities considering the many difficulties.

The quarterly- ration was bought by the (Department and then re-sold to the " Pool ". This, and indeed many other of our supplies came from Jean Langlois of Rennes. All drugs and supplies not bought by the Hospital for its own use were sent to Messrs. Boots the Chemists, who acted as distributing centre for the " Pool ".

It was not easy for the pharmacists, each used to running his business in his own way, to settle down to this sort of combined ordering, but the scheme worked as well as could be expected, thanks to the tact of Messrs. P. Le Quesne, Gould, and Roberts. The brunt of the work fell on Mr. Gould of Boots', to whom we owe much for really unselfish service

Mr. J. S. Price superintended the purchase and distribution of dental supplies with great skill and acumen.

It was very difficult to estimate the needs of the Island as there were no reliable figures to go on. For instance, in 1940, we bought large quantities of insulin, sufficient according to estimates based on figures supplied by the General Hospital and the pharmacists, to have lasted three years. Yet by the spring of 1941 there was a serious shortage, which lasted until 1943 when adequate supplies began to arrive.

This was in part due to panic buying by a few diabetics, but was largely a plain miscalculation. Supplies from the Red Cross helped us to some extent during the period of shortage ; these gifts, though very valuable, were never on a very big scale as regards insulin.

The sulphonamides were at times in short supply, but on the whole never went below the point of threatening to become serious. A very large supply which arrived from the French Red Cross just before D-Day kept us well supplied until our release.

Sodium bicarbonate became sufficiently short in supply to become a very valuable article of barter in the black market.

We received supplies of various drugs, medicaments, and dressings, from the Red Cross Organisations on ten occasions between 1941 and 1944.before D-Day. Sometimes the help was only a small packet of insulin, at others, as in October and November 1942, a really large supply of very useful drugs.

All supplies from France ceased soon after D=Day and although we always kept six months supply of anaesthetics in hand, we were very short just before the Vega arrived, in spite of the strictest economy. On the 31st December 1944, the day the S.S. Vera arrived, we had only 20 lbs of ether left in the Island.

After that, large and varied supplies of all sorts began to arrive, and the drug situation improved steadily until V-E Day. When Red Cross drugs arrived in excess of the requirements of the Hospital, they were sold to the Chemists' Pool, and the money received from their sale paid into the Red Cross.

During the whole period we kept in touch with Guernsey. At times we were able to help her over drug and other difficulties and at times she helped us. A completely amicable arrangement was kept up with Dr. A. N. Symons and Dr. R. W. Revell, by which we kept each other informed of our Island stocks and needs.

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing: Some Considerations

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing: Some Considerations

A petition asking for stronger sentences for convicted child sex abusers in Jersey has reached the 5,000 signature threshold, meaning it must be considered for a states debate:

“The people of Jersey are sick and tired of seeing paedophiles either found guilty of abusing, or attempting to abuse, our children being handed lenient prison sentences (if any prison sentence) by the Jersey courts. We therefore demand the States of Jersey implement mandatory minimum prison terms for such offences, starting from a minimum of 3 years and change the signing of the Sex Offenders Register to life.”

There are mandatory minimum sentences for a number of offences, but before extending it to sex offenders, I want to consider the arguments for and against mandatory sentencing, and secondly, looking in particular at the USA, how they approach mandatory sentencing for sex offences in a way which differentiates on the grounds of the severity of the offence.

Mandatory Minimums

Lenny Roth’s study “Mandatory sentencing laws”, for the NSW Parliamentary Research Service has an excellent summary of the case for and against mandatory sentencing:

The main arguments for these laws include:

1. The laws help to ensure that sentences reflect community standards and are not unduly lenient. In other words, to ensure that the punishment matches the crime. This is important for maintaining confidence in the justice system. Elected representatives are more sensitive to community concerns than appointed judges.

2. The laws help to reduce crime by acting as a stronger deterrent to would-be offenders. The laws (particularly those that target repeat offenders) also help to prevent crime by incapacitating offenders for longer periods of time. By lessening crime in these two ways, the laws reduce the costs associated with crime.

3. The laws can be drafted so that they do not result in excessively harsh sentences in some cases. For example, the laws can very specifically define the types of offences that will attract the minimum or fixed penalty. In addition, the laws might allow judges to depart from this penalty in “exceptional circumstances”.

The main arguments against these laws include:

1. The laws lead to injustice because of their removal of judicial discretion. Judges will not always be able to ensure that the punishment matches the crime. There will inevitably be cases where offenders receive excessively harsh sentences.

2. Increasing penalties does not deter people from committing crime. Most offenders do not act rationally; they act impulsively, and many are affected by alcohol or drugs. Laws that aim to incapacitate offenders for longer periods are unfair as they apply to some people who would not have re-offended.

3. The laws impose significant costs on the justice system. They are likely to lead to lower guilty pleas, and therefore more trials. They are also likely to result in higher prison costs, with more offenders being sentenced to imprisonment, and for longer periods.

4. Other less severe and costly alternatives can achieve the same objectives, including: presumptive sentencing laws, guideline judgements, and committing resources to apprehend offenders and to tackling the causes of offending.

The UK has tended to keep mandatory minimum sentences to just a few offences, but they do exist. Other countries take a much broader view.

A Few Cases from Around the World

USA: Mandatory minimum penalties generally relate to controlled substances, firearms, identity theft, and child sex offences (United States Sentencing Commission, 2011).

Australia: People smuggling is the only crime that attracts a mandatory minimum penalty under federal laws. In 2010, the law was amended to extend the mandatory minimum penalty provisions in the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) to apply the higher minimum sentence and non-parole period for a new aggravated offence of people smuggling involving exploitation or danger of death or serious harm and where a person is convicted of multiple people smuggling offences.

In the United Kingdom, upon conviction for murder, the court must sentence the defendant to life imprisonment. It also has three more mandatory minimum sentences for certain offences, namely: a minimum of 7 years' imprisonment for a person over 18 convicted of trafficking, supplying or producing Class A drugs for the third or subsequent time; a minimum of 5 years' imprisonment (for a person over 18) or 3 years' imprisonment (for a person aged 16–17) for possession, purchase, acquisition, manufacture, transfer or sale of a prohibited firearm or weapon for the first or subsequent time; and a minimum of 3 years' imprisonment for a person over 18 convicted of a domestic burglary for the third or subsequent time.

What appears to be the case, even where mandatory sentences are imposed are three matters:

Firstly, a distinction is often made between first offences and repeat offences. This is the same kind of distinction which is made with non-mandatory sentencing, and reflects the idea that a repeat offense, by its nature, should be treated more seriously than a first offence. Recidivism demonstrates a failure to be rehabilitated.

Secondly, where mandatory minimums do occur, there are degrees of sentencing within the broader scope of the offence. This will become apparent when we consider the USA and Sex Offences, which do carry a mandatory minimum sentence.

Thirdly, and this runs counter to the argument from the Minister that it is not custom to legislate for the judiciary on these mandatory minimum sentences, the fact that other countries have no problem with imposing mandatory minimums on offences, including sex offences, means that the legislature has decided, as sovereign in this matter over the judiciary, that this is both possible and beneficial.

The USA and Sex Offenses

Looking at the USA, a report on the statistics of sentencing, notes the very strong point that legal provisions establishing mandatory minimum penalties for certain offences typically remove any incentive an offender may have to plead guilty or to cooperate with the prosecution in such cases. It notes that:

"It is possible for the legislator to specifically create an exception to the strict application of mandatory minimum penalties for offenders who plead guilty at an early stage of the process, thus creating an explicit incentive for early guilty pleas. It is also possible for the legislator to provide offenders with an incentive for pleading guilty and collaborating with the prosecution by specifically creating an exception to the application of the mandatory minimum penalties for offenders offering assistance to the prosecution. This kind of exception (or “departure” from the mandatory minimum penalties) is found in the United States federal criminal law relating to certain drug offences."

If we apply a thought experiment to a fictitious but possible case under investigation regarding a paedophile ring. When interrogating one of the first suspects, leverage can be applied in the fact that probably (although not certainly) the court will take into consideration how he has helped the police in supplying information on other members of the gang. Mandatory minimum sentencing would reduce that incentive or take it away depending on how high it is set.

The USA has "Mandatory Minimums" for Sex Offenders, but not for all offences. A report notes that: "Offenders convicted of sex offences carrying a mandatory minimum penalty are sentenced to longer terms than those convicted of sex offences not carrying a mandatory minimum penalty"

"In fiscal year 2016, the average sentence for offenders convicted of a sexual abuse offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty was nearly three times longer than the average sentence for offenders convicted of a sexual abuse offence not carrying a mandatory minimum penalty (252 months compared to 86 months)."

"The average sentence for child pornography offenders who faced a ten-year mandatory minimum penalty because of a prior sex offence conviction (136 months) was substantially longer than the average sentence for those offenders who were convicted of a possession offence (without a prior sex offence), which does not carry a mandatory minimum penalty (55 months)."

"Child pornography offenders convicted of distribution (140 months) and receipt offences (93 months), which carry a five-year mandatory minimum penalty, also had a longer average sentence than offenders convicted of possession offences (55 months), who did not face a mandatory minimum penalty"

On the whole, I agree with the way the USA has done it, which is to say mandatory minimums but not for all sex offences. If the petition made that case - which I think is a sensible one - I would have agreed with it. The USA seems to take what (to me) is a common sense approach - in the same way, possession of drugs (for personal use) is different from possession of drugs for dealing. I think that sooner or later that may be the way to go. The rationale is almost certainly in part to ensure the more serious offences have far less mitigation.

The USA has recognised that there are “degrees’ of offence” and have taken a common sense approach. In may ways it is not too dissimilar to the tariff system in Jersey courts where the aggravating factors, and sometimes the age of the defendant, determine the sentence/penalty. Centeniers are given tariff tables for the sort of offences they deal with in the Magistrates Court as a guide to their own deliberations.

Registration for Life

On being on the registry for life, again a perusal of other countries shows that this is determined by the severity of the offence. For instance in Ireland, individuals are subject to these registration requirements for varying duration, based on a sliding scale of the severity of the sentence they received. This scale is as follows: Suspended or non-custodial, 5 years; 6 months or less, 7 years; 6 months to 2 years, 10 years; More than 2 years,Indefinitely.

Anyone who must report to the Gardaí indefinitely can apply to the Circuit Courtto cancel this requirement. They can only apply for this cancellation after at least 10 years have passed since they were released from custody. They apply to cancel the requirement on the grounds that the common good is no longer served by continuing to subject them to these requirements. They must notify the Garda Superintendent in the area where they live of their intention to apply to cancel these notification requirements.

The reason for the ability to have removal from the register comes from the fact that permanent inclusion breaches Article 8 of the European Convention on Human rights.

This came up in the UK in 2008, when two convicted sex offenders have won a ruling that being put on the sex offenders register with no chance of review breaches their human rights

It should be noted that in Ireland, the Dáil has voted in favour this year of a bill which sets out minimum sentences for convicted sex offenders who go on to re-offend.

The Minister bringing the legislation in said the judiciary was of course independent in sentencing and a trial judge could take into account all circumstances of a case and impose a proportionate sentence. However, he added that the Oireachtas was entitled to set out parameters for given offences to reflect what is considered to be the seriousness of that offence.

As the BBC reported:

The judges said the current system denied them the chance of proving they no longer posed a risk of reoffending.

The Home Office said it was disappointed with the judgement and was considering an appeal.

Lord Justice Latham, Mr Justice Underhill and Mr Justice Flaux ruled the scheme was incompatible with their Article 8 right to private and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Justice Latham warned that an offender might find it very difficult to establish he no longer presented any risk of re-offending.

"But I find it difficult to see how it could be justifiable in Article 8 terms to deny a person who believes himself to be in that position an opportunity to seek to establish it," he said.

However, it should be noted that the less stringent attitude of the UK regarding the removal from the register has not been wise. The Irish restriction of allowing application only after ten years seems far more sensible.

In conclusion

This brief survey of arguments, mandatory sentencing laws, and the consequences of them can do no more than scratch the surface. Nevertheless, it is apparent from looking at least one other country – the USA – where sex offenses often (but not in every case( carry mandatory minimum sentences and imprisonment, that there is a need for a range of sentences based on the severity of the offense, and that there can be a provision exceptions made to mandatory sentencing.

It should also be noticed that some sentencing in the USA falls far below that required by the petition.

Some kind of mandatory minimum sentence is certainly feasible, but the petition is vague about the finer detail of what that might entail. What is clear from the USA is that it requires a clear and detailed framework of law, and cannot just be framed in simplistic terms.

And regarding permanent inclusion on the register, it should be noted that Jersey is a signatory to the European Convention on Human rights under the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000, and therefore currently it would be very difficult to implement that without breaching the convention. However it is important to note that mandatory minimum sentencing ensures that it breaks any failings whereby lesser sentences are leading on to light-touch supervision and a fast track off the register.

Appendix: Extract from Irish Hansard:

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Charles Flanagan), speech in 2019 endorsing Irish Legislation

The role of legislators in sentencing is to set out the maximum sentence that can be imposed. It is then a matter for the courts to decide the appropriate sentence in any particular case taking into account all of the circumstances. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the Judiciary, whose members apply sentences according to principles and the facts of the case, guided by what is provided for in legislation. Lest there be any doubt, I want to stress that the courts are wholly independent in the exercise of this judicial function. The court is required to impose a sentence which is proportionate not only to the crime but also to the individual offender, in that process identifying where in the sentencing range the particular case should lie and then applying any mitigating factors which may be present or any representations which might be made on the conclusion of the trial.

There are very few instances in which mandatory or minimum sentences are specified in law. There is a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder. Minimum sentences are also in place for a number of serious offences such as crimes involving drugs or firearms. The use of minimum sentences is intended to reflect the impact of such crimes on society as a whole as well as individuals, often traumatised families and indeed communities. This Bill sets out presumptive minimum sentences for repeat sex offenders. These provisions will apply to those who have been convicted of a serious sexual offence and received a sentence of at least five years. If those offenders go on to commit a further offence within ten years, a presumptive minimum sentence will apply. It should be acknowledged that many convicted sex offenders are effectively managed through the Probation Service and the Garda Síochána on their release from prison and do not go on to commit further offences. However, it is clear that some do go on to reoffend and often offend again and again. By putting these provisions in place the Government is recognising the impact of sexual offences, both on individual victims and on society as a whole. It is ensuring that appropriate measures are available to the Judiciary at sentencing in order to ensure that these crimes can be dealt with both appropriately and effectively.

Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin

The provisions in the Bill will, no doubt, mean more stringent sentences for repeat sex offenders. This is very much welcomed as sexual offences are among the most abhorrent of crimes. The leniency of sentences handed down to persons convicted of sexual offences has been consistently in the headlines and rightly so. The public is rightfully disgusted and angered about this. Behind the headlines are victims who are left feeling totally devastated by the system and who are negatively affected once again.

Deputy James Browne

The Bill before the House is urgently needed. We are all familiar with cases where the leniency of sentences handed down to sexual offenders has been called into question. Lenient sentences can have a damaging impact on survivors of sexual abuse. When people hear of cases where the sentence handed down is reportedly lenient, those who may have considered reporting a sexual offence are often deterred from doing so. There can be a perception that the criminal justice system is not on the side of the victim, and one area that certainly must be addressed is the matter of consistent sentencing.

References https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/mandatory-sentencing-laws/mandatory%20sentencing%20laws.pdf
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R42387.html
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/rr16_ex/rr16_ex.pdf
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2018-09-27/43/

Radio Review: The Price of Sacrifice

BBC Radio Reviews

The Testament of Jesse Lamb

With the death toll from Maternal Death Syndrome rising daily and the world on the brink of disaster, teenager Jessie Lamb becomes convinced she must take action. Her act of heroism could save the human race, but will those closest to her offer their support? Jane Rogers dramatises her award-winning novel in five parts.

In the world of the future, or rather the near future, a case of biological terrorism has unleashed a genetically engineered virus, which has travelled the world. It remains dormant until triggered by pregnancy, whereupon it destroys the pregnant mother’s brain, and as they die, the child. 

The only hope for the human race appears to be the sleeper program. This looks to take young women to be implanted with embryos collected before the virus was released upon the world, placed into an induced coma for the term of the pregnancy, kept alive artificially. For a vaccine has been developed, but it can only be used, on these embryos, before implantation, and cannot save the mother. The children born will, however, be immune.

This then is the moral dilemma of the heart of this story: if you are naturally selfish, the human race will become extinct, as infected human beings become old and die. The only hope lies in the sacrifice of young women. They must die to preserve the future; they must give their lives for their children to be born and survive.

Whereas in the First World War, it was the young men who went off to fight, and who were sacrificed to the war machine, here it is young women who must volunteer to give up their lives so that future generations may live.

This is portrayed in a narrative drama this is very gripping. While at the same time as a sleeper program is going ahead, society is breaking down and falling apart around it. Terrorists groups are attacking any biological research into the virus that uses animals, and it poses the question: which parents would like to see their children sacrificed so that future generations might live? I think that our generation is probably far more selfish in this respect than that of our forebears.

The Road To Normandy

It is 75 years since the D-Day Landings, when Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France. The Allied landings on the Normandy beaches marked the start of a long and costly campaign to liberate north-west Europe from German occupation.

In The Road To Normandy, Dave has, for 40 years, put behind him the fact that he landed on the Normandy beaches on D-Day. He doesn't remember his comrades with any special affection and has no wish to indulge in memories. But, in June 1984 he goes back to Normandy and faces the ghosts of the past - and one ghost in particular. One in a series of The Road To... plays by actor and writer Douglas Livingstone. Ronald Pickup is Dave, Brenda Blethyn plays Thelma, Mick Ford is Pete, Trevor Nichols as Simon and Douglas Livingstone is Bill. First broadcast on Radio 4 in 1985.

The Road to Normandy is a compelling drama which captures both the return of many veterans in 1985, which I myself remember being also noticeable for the presence of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher on the beaches and graveyards of Normandy. It also backtracks to the date itself and the sheer chaos and fear and courage of that time, as the band we follow come ashore on the beach, desperately make their way to the wall while fellow companions are cut down.

The sheer terror after a journey of sea-sickness, and the rush to get to safe ground to fight, is well captured in the narrative of this play, a time when "all hell broke loose".

At its heart is also a secret, the friend Pete who loses his mind through sheer terror and ends up shooting himself. This is part of the trauma of war, a secret that the protagonist Dave and his comrades keep from the reporter who is present in 1985 and also the Pete’s son who is there to honour his dead father for his bravery and for being a brave and courageous casualty of war. But as Dave's sergeant says, Pete was not a coward, he was just driven out of his mind by terror, and it could have been any one of them who had gone that way. By remaining silent, they honour the fact that he died in the conflict.

The sound effects bring the drama to life, and it is a compelling study of what it was like to experience of D-Day, and also to explain that why veterans gather to salute the dead, they are also disinclined to talk about the more harrowing experiences of that day.

It may have been first broadcast in 1985, but it has lost nothing of its power to bring the listener into the heart of the conflict, and glimpse the sadness of those who survived and lost friends, and who come to terms with the memories of that conflict.

As a recent JEP report shows, this was so true to fact:

"Gripped by fear as deafening bombs exploded and bullets tore past him, killing comrades left and right, Royal Marine Commando George Simms was one of the first on the beaches on D-Day."

"As the ramp dropped on his landing craft, the 20-year-old former butcher’s boy from Manchester gripped his rifle and jumped into the waist-deep sea water as “all hell broke lose” when the enemy opened fire on the beach ahead."

“I don’t honestly think there could ever be a day like that day on D-Day, when we were in action,” Mr Simms said.

“Fear. Fear. Absolute fear. There was nobody brave that day, nobody saying ‘Come on lets go and do it’.”

And yet they did it, even though they knew they might die, for a better future for all of us today.

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/uk-news/2019/06/03/there-was-nobody-brave-that-day--d-day-veteran-remembers-storming-the-beaches/

Midsummer Night's Magic

This poem is about Midsummer and the special magic of that night, but it is also about reflecting on the past, and of grief and joy, of mourning and memory, and a time to take a walk in the darkness of the soul before the dawn comes.

Midsummer Night's Magic

Midsummer night, moonlight at my side
As bright day fades, a time of grief and pain;
Moonbeams caress, in gentleness provide
Memories of joy that yet will still remain
My soulmate lost, my best, my loving friend
In dead of night, a peace will never end

Midsummer night, dark walk I undertake
The country gone, the country of the past
But memory remains, of joy let nothing shake;
My sweet lost love, you shall be bright at last.
The starlight glimmers, a gentle breeze I know
Shining foam flecked waves, over sand below

Midsummer night, magic that will not depart
Despite the darkness and the tears
Redeemed is joy, the ever loving heart
Who comes to soothe my sorrow and my fears.
Such memories come, a treasure to repay
And will not be lost, or fade, or go away

Midsummer night, the planets hasten on
Jupiter rising, the Mighty King, the Lord
And soon, this night of magic will be gone
But not the memories, love's purest joys restored.
The dawn will break, when change and tears are past,
Until end of days, where we shall meet at last.

Islanders Health during the Occupation - Part 3

By way of something off the beaten track, here's the report on the health of the Islanders during the occupation, published in 1945, after the war had ended.

MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH: ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1945. 

THE LABORATORY

The Laboratory has had another busy year, though a smaller number of specimens was dealt with than during the last three years of the Occupation. The figures since 1940 are as follows

During the Occupation the Germans made extensive use of our Laboratory facilities, sending many pathological and bacteriological specimens, thus greatly increasing our work. The diphtheria epidemic caused a further increase, reaching its peak in 194; when we actually dealt with 10,263 specimens.

When one considers the many difficulties we had to keep this laboratory functioning, this is a very creditable achievement. Before the war, figures as high as 3,000 were rare, and it is probable that much of-the increase has come to stay, for in many ways the laboratory has increased both the scope and variety of its work. Medical practitioners are using its services more.

Before the Occupation we did Wassermann tests, but rarely received sufficient specimens to make the effort worthwhile. During the Occupation we substituted the Kahn test as it became quite impossible to obtain sheep's blood. The number of specimens we receive is still very small so we continue to use the Kahn test, and send the sera to a London laboratory for the Wassermann. Tests sent in this way are paid for by the Laboratory, and where necessary are free to the patients. The Medical Research Committee has laid it down that no laboratory should undertake the Wassermann test unless they receive 50 sera a week. We at the best get about ten, and some weeks one or two only.

Pathological specimens are also sent to a London laboratory as we get on average about 20 a year. No man’s opinion on a section will remain of any value unless he deals with as many a week at least.

The amount of biological chemistry done is slowly increasing as more practitioners come to realise the value of the help they can get in this way.

By increasing the scope of its work and by utilising central laboratories, we now give a pathological service the equal to that given by any laboratory serving a hospital and area of equivalent size anywhere.

In addition to its bacteriological, pathological, and biochemical services, a blood donor panel has been added to the laboratory. This did excellent service during the Occupation, and continues to do so, having recently started a small blood bank for the convenience of the Hospital and practitioners.

The Laboratory has done good work for the General Hospital, the Medical Practitioners, and Public Health.

THE DISTRICT NURSES

The Jersey District Nurses did excellent work during the occupation in spite of the curfew, the black out, barbed wire, petrol shortage, etc. In particular they carried out a very large proportion of the 7,500 anti-diphtheria innoculation done during the Occupation. The Island owes a great debt of gratitude to these devoted women.

THE DISPENSARY.

In 1940 the Dispensary was opened as a Maternity Hospital, to centralise midwifery in a period of difficult transport and to relieve the strain on the General Hospital where an increasing number of beds were being requisitioned by the Germans. The move was a great success, for, by the end of 1941, 50% of the births in the Island were taking place at the Dispensary, and since then the percentage has risen until last year, when 67%, of all births in the Island took place there.

There was a small outbreak of puerperal fever in the Dispensary in 1942, ten cases in all. There were no deaths but it was necessary to close the Dispensary for a short time for disinfection and cleaning. During that period all cases booked for- the Dispensary were cared for in Bon Air Nursing Home at the expense of the Department.

The Dispensary has become very popular, and it would be wrong, in fact impossible, to do other than keep the Dispensary on as a Maternity Hospital. This necessity has been recognised and active steps have been taken to make the arrangement permanent.

The excellent work done by the staff of the Dispensary from the Matron downwards, and their great care of their patients in a most difficult time, have been the basic reasons for the great success of the Institution.

THE SANITARY INSPECTORS.

The work of the Sanitary inspectors was rendered very difficult owing to shortage of transport. Often it required great tact to approach enemy officers in order to get things done. Nevertheless the job was tackled and carried through very successfully. Particular attention was paid to milk, which was such an important element in our dietary during those dead years. Many prosecutions were instituted for adulterating milk with water and removing cream. This crime was rendered very attractive owing to the high price of butter on the black market.

In spite of all efforts, the cleanliness of our milk deteriorated, and it was necessary again and again to advise the public to boil all milk immediately on receipt. Even then it sometimes curdled on boiling. This was due to the delay in collection caused by shortage of transport, and to the difficulty of really cleaning the cans under Occupation conditions. Unfortunately, the milk is still dirty though some improvement has been noticed.

The Germans ultimately came to recognise the value of our Inspectors' advice, and I have often seen German personnel in the office, asking for advice on the construction of sanitary arrangements in their billets and camps.

HOUSING

No houses have been built in the Island since 1939. In addition it is estimated that St. Helier has about 800 two-roomed back-to-back or lean-to type of house. If the working; classes of Jersey are to be properly housed, we must think in terms of a plan to provide up to 1,000 houses. This is a very urgent matter and ought to receive priority over all others.

How often have I seen a yard with these two-roomed one tip and one down houses, the only water supply a stand pipe at the bottom of the yard ; inadequate W.C. accommodation in the same place, usually of obsolete types and without proper flushing. Such conditions are intolerable in the present state of our knowledge of the science of hygiene. Housing in Jersey, as elsewhere, is the most urgent problem. Before we can close all these insanitary dwellings, we must have alternative accommodation.

Beneficial Ownership Registers: What Public Access Means

Article 30(1) of the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) requires all EU Member States to put into national law provisions requiring corporate and legal entities to obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial owner(s) in their own internal beneficial ownership register.

“It took the allied powers six months to plan and successfully carry out the D-Day landings. It took Thomas Edison two years to create the light bulb. The Crown Dependencies have today set out a three-year plan to table a discussion in parliament with no commitments and no details on whether they will comply with emerging international standards on beneficial ownership transparency.”

John Christensen, of the Tax Justice Network on the Beneficial Ownership Transparency.

But is this assessment fair? I think not.

The EU and how the Register Works

So what exactly is the EU’s position on a beneficial ownership register, and how transparent is that?

If we look at Ireland, for example, under the AML5D, the CRO will make low-level access of the Central Register data available to the public. The following information will be publicly accessible:

Name, Extent of beneficial ownership, Nationality, Country of residence Part of date of birth (month and year)

High-level access will be granted to competent authorities with a ‘legitimate interest’ including the Revenue Commissioners, law enforcement agencies (i.e. In Ireland the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Gardaí), banks including the Central Bank, credit institutions and Accountants or Lawyers undertaking customer due diligence requirements.

And how far is it in progress? It is envisaged that the public will not have access to the register until late 2019/early 2020 and that only limited information will be available.

You can’t currently register on the site until 22 June 2019 anyway.

In the portal there will be a facility, similar to the “Company Search” facility on the CRO website, where you can look up a company or society and purchase a “Company/Society Printout”.

The “Printout” will include a list of the past and present beneficial owners of the company/society and the following data in respect of each one:

A statement of the nature and extent of the beneficial interest held or control exercised. A “Company /Society Printout” is expected to cost €3.50 to buy and payment can be made by credit/debit card. The printout will be e-mailed to the address you provide within minutes.

So let’s be clear how this works. A search can be made of any company or society on the register. There is no provision to search on individuals. And when a company you wish to inspect is found, it will cost €3.50 to buy.

So although technically it is a public accessible register of beneficial owners, in fact it will not be that easy for the public to ownership by individual, only the beneficial ownership by company – and there will be a charge.

The EU considers this to be enough to be “publicly accessible”, but I’d be intrigued to know if Mr Christensen thinks likewise.

I'm not saying it is a good or bad thing, because the strength of the register I think is more in the ability of legitimate law enforcement agencies to search by name, and that is available both in Ireland and Jersey registers now.

Public does not mean anything goes

It’s not just Ireland, similar restrictions are available elsewhere. For instance:

Belgium: Members of the public have restricted access to the UBO Register and will have to identify themselves through eID, and may only search the Register using a company’s Crossroads Bank for Enterprises number or company name.

Indeed the regulations state that there are no restrictions provided in the AML Act. However, it will not be possible to perform searches on specific persons being UBO by the general public.

However, competent authorities and the Financial Intelligence Units will have the additional option of searching the register for UBO information by name of individual. And Jersey of course already supplies that to other countries law enforcement bodies worldwide.

The USA: Edison's Homeland

As a recent report notes, authorities in the United States have more information about library card holders than the owners of registered companies, according to a bipartisan group of U.S. senators behind a bill that would overhaul the country’s dated anti-money-laundering laws.

The senators, members of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, are seeking to enact The Illicit Cash Act, which would empower regulators to force shell companies to disclose their true ownership for the first time.

The senators referenced research that found the U.S. is among the easiest countries in the world in which to set up anonymous shell companies.

“To obtain a library card in any state in the U.S., the applicant must be the person who will ultimately be controlling/using the card, and a significant amount of identifying information must be provided by the person to the state in order to obtain the library card,” the report found.

“To form a company in any state in the U.S., it is not necessary to identify or provide any information about the person(s) who will ultimately be controlling the company.”

The Panama Papers have prompted more stringent regulations in the European Union including mandating member states to compile centralised registers on beneficial ownership and to make these widely – even publicly – accessible.

The draft U.S. legislation also calls for a comprehensive database of beneficial ownership to be compiled at a federal level, but only law enforcement officers would have access to the information.

And it is only at an early draft stage!

It took Thomas Edison two years to create the light bulb, but the USA is taking far longer to create a central beneficial ownership register, let alone one publicly accessible. 

Maybe before citing Edison, Mr Christensen should be honest about how slow matters are in the USA before using that analogy as a stick to beat the Crown Dependencies.

In conclusion

The timetable of the Crown Dependencies may not be the quickest – but the UK register is a shambles of unverified and often garbled information, which is certainly not adequate, accurate and current information.

Meanwhile, the USA has not even started. Where do you think the dirty money is heading?

And it’s worth adding that enforcement authorities across the globe already have speedy access to the Crown Dependencies registers in the hunt for money laundering, something which Mr Christensen has omitted from his critique.

Indeed, on tackling money laundering, it is as far advanced if not further advanced that the 28 EU member states. So “no commitments” is really hardly painting an accurate picture of the real state of affairs.

And finally....

Edison also opted for Direct Current rather than Alternative Current to supply electricity, but Nikola Tesla won the battle for the superior system.

Edison dismissed Tesla's "impractical" idea of an alternating-current (AC) system of electric power transmission, instead promoting his simpler, but less efficient, direct-current (DC) system.

It's rather like the difference between the UK and Jersey registers regarding "adequate, accurate and current information" on their registers. 

News from 1958

Some snippets from the Evening Post, Monday February 3rd 1958.The price for the paper, incidentally, was two-and-a-half old pence, that's the 12 pence equals one shilling pence! It's also interesting that the pages mix local and international news all together on the same page.

New reservoir
One of the headlines is entitled New Reservoir. The caption shows the site of a new reservoir for Jersey at Val de La Mare – “Work is now in progress for the foundations of the dam which will make this Reservoir the largest in the Ireland.”

Mystery Russian Cylinder
Meanwhile a container with scientific instruments enclosed, and attached to a parachute, was found on Mitcham Common in Surrey, and has been sent by the police to the meteorological office, Air Ministry, Harrow, Middlesex. The container had a flashing light on it and nearby was found a label with directions in four languages asking that if the cylinder was found it should be returned to the Soviet aeronautical Institute in Moscow.

Other headlines
The Queen Mother visits New Zealand. Guernsey raises the price of coal. Former German soldier allowed to buy property. The Unseen Mountains of Antarctica. Yawl Badly Damaged by Fire. Bubble Gum Machine Taken. St Brelade’s Fete gives £400 to charity.

Due to the poor quality of the microfiche, I am, alas, unable to make out more than the bare headlines.

U.S. Ready with Second Satellite
Observers outside the United States missile testing base have kept close watch today as a Vanguard missile standing fully assembled is ready to launch. It is thought that it may be the vehicle for a second American space satellite. 

Death of Miss Julia Marett.
We regret to record the death which occurred today at an advanced age at her house in Jersey of Miss Julia Mary Marett for many years a prominent and valued member of the Société Jersiaise. Miss Merritt was the daughter of Sir Robert Pipon Marett who also was attorney general and sister of the late Dr RR Marett at La Haule Manor who was rector of Exeter College Oxford and a famous anthropologist.

She had a distinguished career as headmistress at a girls school in England and on her retirement return to live in Jersey at La Haule Manor.

She had in a deep and abiding love for her native island and its history and devoted a good deal of her time over long period of years to the affairs of the Société Jersiaise of which she was past president and at the time of her death a vice president. She was made a Membre D’Honneur of the Société Jersiaise in 1954. 

Cyclist severely injured.
A woman thought to be a Mrs or Miss Gunner received a severe head injury, possibly a fracture of the skull, when she was knocked off her bicycle in David Place, near St Marks Church at about 2pm this afternoon.

It is thought that she swerved in front of an oncoming motorcycle to avoid a car door which had been opened as she passed. The car, a Ford Anglia, driven by Mr C A Raphael of St Lawrence had been travelling towards Bath Street. The motorcycle was written by Mr HC Bisson of Mont A L’abbe.

The injured woman was taken by ambulance to hospital. PC H Cole was sent to investigate. Centenier AT Knight also went to the scene.

Runaway car crashes into wall.
A car belonging to Mr RV Warren of 9 Bath Street was slightly damaged when, at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon, it slipped its brakes while parked at the top of Wellington Road, travelled about 100 yards and crashed into the wall at the entrance to De La Salle College.

The driverless car was seen by Mr RC Hodge of Friars Oak, Wellington Road and PC P Holt was sent from Police Headquarters, Rouge Bouillon, to investigate. When the handbrake was tested it was found to be efficient.

It is thought the brake might have been released by passerby - possibly a youth or child but no one was seen.

The matter was reported to Centenier HC Garden of St Saviour for further investigation.

Invisible, not at all wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes.

I’ve just been reading the following report from the JEP:

GRANTS to local charities are being funded from emergency reserves this year because the States are still in the process of reorganising how Channel Islands Lottery profits should be distributed.

A decision was made towards the end of last year by States officials to tender for the job of distributing CI Lottery money – a role that has traditionally been performed by the AJC – as part of a ‘long-stated aim to spread the benefits of Lottery funding across a wider section of the Jersey community’, a States press office spokeswoman said.

By tendering for a distributor, the States have said that it will be able to ensure fair, efficient and effective distribution of Lottery funds.

Where is the decision documented?

Firstly, a decision was made at the end of last year. We are now nearly six months down the line and clearly still without a tender being chosen. Did no one foresee it would take so long? Did the States have any contingency plans until a new tender was in place?

Actually the Gov.Je website says:

“In order to increase the public benefit from the Lottery, EDTSC is now taking action to widen the number of organisations which could potentially receive funding from it. An expression of interest exercise will be launched shortly to find partners who are able to distribute the proceeds among a wider number of organisations.”

And that is dated March 2019! A search on “tender” reveals many tendering projects but that is all that is available on this lottery tender. It is hardly surprising nothing has happened. But EDTSC (the extraordinarily long winded “Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture” should have planned for that.

The Public Lotteries report for 2018, presented to the States on 19th March 2019 by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture might have conceivable been expected to show some indication of a decision to be taken, but none is apparent.

I cannot locate either a Ministerial decision on the Gov.Je website or anything on the Channel Island Tenders portal about this tender, either current or past.

Who was responsible?

Second, who actually has taken this decision?

I cannot locate either a Ministerial decision on the Gov.Je website or anything on the Channel Island Tenders portal about this tender, either current or past.

The JEP report says “by States officials”. Are States officials now making decisions like this? And if so, where are the tender documents? This seems to have come out of the ether, and as the consequences evidently indicate some kind of lack of foresight about transitional measures (which I thought would be common sense), who is responsible for this cock-up? And are they going to be held accountable?

What is the timetable for this?

The Gov.Je notice says:

“Once distributors are selected, legislation will be taken to the States of Jersey proposing the allocation of the Jersey proceeds from the Channel Islands Lottery in 2018.”

Has anyone a clue when this is likely to be? So far, all we have is an “an expression of interest exercise” which is mentioned, but doesn’t seem to appear anywhere, and that comes in March 2019. There is no news whatsoever on how long it will take to select distributors and this seems to be just as vague as knowing where we are with the hospital project.

 By Contrast: A Model Project

Meanwhile, I am glad to see that the new Les Quennevais School is proceeding on time. Rod Bryans came in as Education Minister, laid out a timetable for all the stages in the process – in the public domain, and the tendering process appeared on the gov.je website (Jersey Gazette) and on the e-Portal at www.tenders.gov.je. That’s a model of what should happen with States projects and sets a good baseline.

Postscript:

https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=6086eb92-b24c-e911-80f3-005056b64545&p=59ed6324-03e4-e611-80da-005056b64545&fbclid=IwAR3QiwFIxm3_jSXnyXUZ4qS9UGdTjxMSKTCse8yCQPeDCNe6IByAPvO0vfM

I searched for "tender", whereas I should have searched on the Tender site for merely "expressions of interest". The document in question (link above) says:

The Channel Islands Lottery has generated millions for good causes, transforming the lives of thousands of people in Jersey. There is a long-stated aim to spread the benefits of Lottery funding across a wider section of the Jersey community. The Government proposes to change how Lottery funding is ...tary Groups.
Expressions of interest are sought from organisations interested in distributing the proceeds of the Channel Islands Lottery in Jersey adhering to the requirements above. 

To arrange an informal discussion about the opportunity please contact – Daniel De la Cour d.delacour@gov.je

It has an "expressions of interest window" - From 22/03/2019 14:55 to 12/04/2019

Given that it has not progressed further to a formal tender, over 2 months after the end of that window, I'd say it is a complete shambles.

Links
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2019/06/17/emergency-reserves-being-used-to-pay-lottery-grants/

The Night Wanderer

A "mood" sonnet for today.

The Night Wanderer

The hoot of an owl in the dead of the night
Shadows of gravestones beneath a full moon
I walk in the strange land that borders fright
Fearful of spectres that might emerge soon

Grey fields and hedgerow beneath the moonlight
The flutter of wings as a bat catches prey
I walk in the borderland world of the night
The darkness so long before coming of day

Grey waves break on black rocks; it is a fine sight
The dark sands at midnight, all empty and bare
I walk on the promenade, past windows of light
Think of lost shipwrecks, and the spirits of air

I love the strange world of night, of the time of the dark
While most folk sleep soundly, until the singing of lark 

Islanders Health during the Occupation - Part 2

By way of something off the beaten track, here's the report on the health of the Islanders during the occupation, published in 1945, after the war had ended

Part 1 is here:

http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2019/05/islanders-health-during-occupation.html

MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH: ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1945. 

OVERDALE, LES VAUX, TUBERCULOSIS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

For some years, the function of Overdale has been gradually changing. Opened primarily as an infectious disease hospital, it has gradually developed the side of its work dealing with tuberculosis until that has become by far its most important function.

During non-epidemic years, and fortunately 9 out of 10 years are non-epidemic, we can devote 45 beds to the treatment of tuberculosis in-patients. Owing to the urgent need of repairs and re-painting, this has been temporarily reduced to 22, but soon we hope to have all our wards open again.

The conditions for such patients are good, much better in fact than in many sanatoria in England.

The Out-patients' Department, originally started for the supervision of convalescents, and pneumo-horax refills, has developed into a T.B. clinic and dispensary. This department has a waiting room for patients, an office where all records and X-Ray films are kept together with all correspondence dealing with the patients, a treatment room for artificial pneumo-thorax refills, and an X-Ray room.

The Clinic is open on Mondays for men and on Saturdays for women. To it come all our old patients for re-examination and treatment, visitors requiring A.P. refills, and cases referred by local doctors for opinion and treatment if necessary.

We have an arrangement with the District Nurses whereby we can get reports on the patients' home conditions. We can also arrange for financial assistance where that is necessary. Contacts are also examined and photographs taken of their chests. The necessary bacteriological and other tests are also arranged with the aid of the Laboratory.

The X Ray plant at Overdale is used entirely for screening; all films are taken at the General Hospital. All treatment at Overdale is free. A. J.M.T. bus is under contract to take patients from the Parade, opposite the Laboratory, to Overdale at 9.15 a.m. on. Clinic days. This bus is free to patients.

When patients require special operative treatment not available on the Island, we procure beds for them in England and, where necessary, cover their expenses. During 1945, two patients were sent to England for thoracoplasty under this arrangement. We have been asked by the L.C.C. to put 5 beds at their disposal in Overdale for early cases. This has been agreed to, but we cannot start doing this until we have our full complement of beds.

The L.C.C. will pay for these patients and the money so received will cover the expenses of the patients we 

have to send to England for surgical treatment. It will also mean a periodical visit from a very highly qualified specialist who will be willing to advise us on the treatment of our cases where necessary, and help us to obtain beds for our surgical cases requiring thoracoplasty and similar operations. The arrangement should prove a great advantage to our local sufferers from T.B.

Everything possible has been done and will be done to make Overdale an up-to-date place for the treatment of T.B. The fact that the L.C.C. has asked us to place five beds at their disposal indicates what a high opinion their expert formed of the institution when he was here.

LES VAUX

During 1943, the diphtheria epidemic demanded all available beds in Overdale, thus reducing our accommodation for T.B. It was necessary to obtain other accommodation for these patients, so Les Vaux was opened as a temporary sanatorium.

It served its purpose very well and many patients were placed well on the way to recovery, whilst living under very pleasant conditions. It was an excellent place for T.B. children who rapidly recovered health and strength in its pleasant home-like surroundings.

I would have liked to have kept it going, but that was impossible, and it was closed down in September 1945. The accommodation at Les Vaux was increased by taking some of the hutments from the Chest Clinic at La Hougue Bie.

TUBERCULOSIS

The average for the fore-going five years was 1.3. the average for the ten years 1930-1939 was .88. During the five years whose rates have been given above, the death rate was 50% higher than during the previous ten years. It is curious that that the rate rose immediately, not slowly as one would expect with a slow moving disease like tuberculosis.

It is more curious still when we find that the rate for 1945 is per thousand, practically the average for the years 1930- 1939. a sudden fall in the year the Occupation ends. This is very odd, and no explanation. I can think of is very satisfactory. The rate for1945 may be a chance variation, the figures we work on are small. The difference between a rate of 1.3 and .88 is the difference indicated by a fall from 65 deaths to 44 on any given year and such variation might occur by chance. In that case we might expect a higher rate next year.

Another explanation is that normally a large percentage of our TB patients leave the Island for treatment and their deaths are recorded elsewhere.

This was impossible during the Occupation so the death rate rose, this custom was resumed as soon as we were released, and the rate fell.

The first part of this explanation seems feasible enough but it is hard to believe that many got away since V.E. Day as there is a great scarcity of beds for T.B. in England.

The Tuberculosis death rate from Pulmonary T.B. M 1945 was .77 per thousand, from other forms of T.B., .13 per thousand. All forms .9 per thousand.

Overdale admitted 41 cases of Pulmonary T.B., 2 cases of Spinal T.B., and one case of T.B. peritonitis. One case which proved not to be T.B. was sent to England as a possible cancer of the lung. 29 patients were discharged, 18 of whom were fit fear light work, and 11 unfit for work.

DIPTHERIA

In 1940 there were Amur cases of diphtheria, with no deaths. In 1941 there were no cases of diphtheria. In 1942, the disease was re-introduced from France by foreign workers brought here by the Army of Occupation. There were several cases amongst those workmen and amongst German Troops before any civilian cases occurred. By the end of 1942 there had been 66 cases, in 1943 there were 211 cases, in 1944, 46 cases, and 112 1945 a rise to 89 cases.

The total deaths 1942-1945 was 19. This gives a death rate to the end of 1941 of 4.6. The death rate has tended slightly downward since the end of 1944, probably due to the re-introduction of concentrated sera after V.E. Day, and better nutrition. The organism was of the mitis type.

Towards the end of 1942 there was a serious crisis in the supply of anti-toxin. The supply actually fell to a point when there was only enough left to treat 3 serious cases, and cases were arriving at the rate of five or six weekly. It came just in the nick of time, thanks to Dr. Le Saffre of St. Lo, the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and the International Red Cross. The serum so obtained was all of the unconcentrated type and the patients had very bad scrum rashes.

To treat a bad case often required the injection of 80 or more cubic centimetres of serum. We obtained from the Pasteur Institute large supplies of diphtheria prophylactic in the form of Anatoxin; with this we were able to immunise a large proportion of our children, and so brought the epidemic within manageable limits.

During 1945, Overdale admitted 10 cases of Scarlet Fever and three cases with a diagnosis of Scarlet which proved not to be Scarlet.

I must record my admiration for, and thanks to, the nursing and domestic staff at Overdale for their loyal and unremitting service during the Occupation.

Things at times were very difficult. The roof blew off one of the wards and fell in the football field during the big storm early in the Occupation. The Germans put guns in the grounds, and the firing of these guns brought down ceilings and frightened children.

Heating and cooking finally became almost impossible and I often saw pots of water boiling on improvised camp kitchens outside the wards in order that patients could be kept clean and have a hot drink. Through it all there was invariable cheerfulness and efficiency.

Freedom has brought staffing problems, repairs, repainting, and a drive to bring the place up-to-date, still everything goes along peacefully and the patients are well looked after.

I must also thank those who came to entertain the patients at Overdale and Les Vaux during the Occupation. Transport was difficult or non-existent, but still they came, bringing their instruments and props, and they gave the patients many a pleasant hour. The local broadcasting over the telephone service was a great help and did much to lighten the tedium of the Occupation combined with long periods of confinement to bed.