Jersey and Public Ownership of Utility Companies

Selling off Jersey Water shares is a bad idea

Every so often, when budgets look tight, some pundit (usually in the pages of the JEP) has the bright idea that the States should sell off its majority shareholding in the Jersey Electricity Company or Jersey Water.

This is not a good idea.

Anyone who has been following the privatised water companies making the news in the pages of Private Eye over the last two decades sees what happens when you privatise strategic assets,

The bottom line is always the shareholder, above leak management, waste disposal, and then executive pay, and finally the poor consumer, who usually faces price hikes while the system leaks incessanty through aged pipe networks. Some remediation is done, but it is never the bottom line.

Outside regulation and its failure

In theory, supervision is done by a watchdog agency, a national regulator, but as anyone reading Private Eye will know, these have proven remarkably ineffective.

A recent headline is typical: "Thames Water bosses have seen their salaries soar despite coming under fire for failing to fix leaky pipes while announcing a hosepipe ban for London." And here's another involving 10 companies: ""Water company bosses see pay and bonuses rise, despite ‘national scandal’ of leakages and sewage issues"

At present, Thames, Southern, South East, South West and Yorkshire Water leak the equivalent of 16 million bathtubs every day. Despite their leaking infrastructure, And nine English water firms had paid out £0.5 billion in dividends last year alone, with private shareholders funnelling off £18.9 billion in payouts since 2010.

The regulator is "looking into things"!!!

Jersey Water's Leakage Strategy: A Successful Policy

We all complain about the roads dug up, but old pipework can decay and is more prone to leakages. There is a complex network carrying the water supply around the Island and the renewal of mains involves the replacement of old, end of life, unlined cast iron or galvanised iron pipework, and related service connections where appropriate

As an example, 835 metres of main along Rue de La Baie in St Brelade’s bay was replaced last year - the original dating back to 1900! There was also the replacement of 303 metres of pipe laid in 1903 feeding Seaton Place and the renewal of 138 metres of main feeding Old Road Gorey (originally laid in 1959).

A Public Utility for the Public

One of the reasons for the success of the company is the States of Jersey majority shareholder having 83.33% of voting rights. As we have seen in the UK, where private companies run the water networks, the shareholders – and returns to shareholders – can often be prioritised at the expense of the consumer.

Against that while Jersey Water has to make a profit and pay dividends to shareholders, it also can used a goodly amount of those profits to reinvest for the long term, something UK Water Companies are singularly poor at doing. Leaks have been reduced across England and Wales by only 5% over the past 13 years.

As their annual report states:

“We are a long term business. To be successful we must maintain our performance over generations. This means not taking short cuts, making the appropriate long term investment decisions and maintaining our assets to a high standard.”

New Technology and Leaks

Not only is the company investing in replacing ancient mains, they are also bringing in new technology for detecting leaks more efficiently.

Froim 2017, the Company commissioned the development of a live distribution network management system. The system allows the distribution network to be monitored in real time to allow operatives to understand pressures, flows, the age of water in the mains and numerous other parameters. The system  facilitates the modelling of effects of changes to the network on water quality, pressure and quality of service. The system is being developed in phases over the coming years to add functionality in stages.

"We continue to invest in our infrastructure and 2018 will see the development of a live distribution network model that will, over time, enable the use of technology to manage leakage, pressures and water quality throughout our 580km of pipework."

A watching brief

Public majority shareholding ownership of Jersey Water, as we have, does not mean Government interference in the running of the company, such as directing the company not to raise the price of water.

But what it does mean is that the watching brief has far more force than an outside watchdog reglator, and that power does not need to be exercised. The mere fact that it is there ensures that the company behaves in a very different way. An external regulator is largely toothless, as the UK shows.

Jersey Water has a programme of replacing old pipework, and there's a lot of it, so it takes time. Some of the pipes replaced in St Brelade's Bay around in 2018 years ago dated back to the early 19th century. It still worked, but as time goes on the danger of leaks and breaks in older infrastructure grows.

One of the reasons for the success of the company is the States of Jersey majority shareholder having 83.33% of voting rights. As we have seen in the UK, where private companies run the water networks, the shareholders – and returns to shareholders – can often be prioritised at the expense of the consumer.

Investing in Jersey

We all complain about the roads dug up, but old pipework can decay and is more prone to leakages. There is a complex network carrying the water supply around the Island and the renewal of mains involves the replacement of old, end of life, unlined cast iron or galvanised iron pipework, and related service connections where appropriate

As an example, 835 metres of main along Rue de La Baie in St Brelade’s bay was replaced last year - the original dating back to 1900! There was also the replacement of 303 metres of pipe laid in 1903 feeding Seaton Place and the renewal of 138 metres of main feeding Old Road Gorey (originally laid in 1959).

One of the reasons for the success of the company is the States of Jersey majority shareholder having 83.33% of voting rights. As we have seen in the UK, where private companies run the water networks, the shareholders – and returns to shareholders – can often be prioritised at the expense of the consumer.

While Jersey Water has to make a profit and pay dividends to shareholders, it also can used a goodly amount of those profits to reinvest for the long term, something UK Water Companies are singularly poor at doing. Leaks have been reduced across England and Wales by only 5% over the past 13 years.

A Long Term Business

“We are a long term business. To be successful we must maintain our performance over generations. This means not taking short cuts, making the appropriate long term investment decisions and maintaining our assets to a high standard.”

Not only is the company investing in replacing ancient mains, they are also bringing in new technology for detecting leaks more efficiently.

From 2017, the Company commissioned the development of a live distribution network management system. The system will allow the distribution network to be monitored in real time to allow operatives to understand pressures, flows, the age of water in the mains and numerous other parameters. The system will facilitate the modelling of effects of changes to the network on water quality, pressure and quality of service. The system will be developed in phases over the coming years to add functionality in stages.

We really don't want to sell off this asset, and appoint a feeble regulator as in the UK! It doesn't work.

Joy: A Reflection

A good friend has died, and in memoriam, I have written this piece which sums up the joyful times we had together.

Joy: A Reflection

Openings: the time has come, the time is near
Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostera, and Beltane
Circle round, rituals of Wheel of the Year
Litha, Lammas, Mabon, rise to another plane

Ritual: robes, candles, and circling round
Altar festooned with elements and sign
And mead and food, the seasons crowned
Meditations draw us in, story outline

Closings: put out the candles, time to go
And priestess declares the ritual ended
Circle widdershins, and robed we flow
Then feast, and friends, it is so splendid

Joy brought us together, and made it so
And memories remain, in departing go

Invitation to Jersey 1978 - Part 1

 Invitation to Jersey 1978. Its amazing how many of these hotels have gone.

Travel to Jersey - defunct airline.

British Island Airways (BIA) was the legal successor to British United Island Airways (BUIA). It commenced operations under that name in mid-1970s. Ten years later it merged with Air Anglia, Air Wales and Air Westward to form Air UK, at the time the United Kingdom's biggest regional airline and its third-largest scheduled operator. The first British Island Airways had its head office at Congreve House (1970–1972)] and Berkeley House (1973–1979),[7][8] which are respectively located in Station Road and on the high street in Redhill, Surrey. In 1982 British Island Airways was reconstituted by splitting off the charter operation Air UK had inherited from BIA at the time of its creation into a separate company. The reconstituted BIA ceased operations in 1991.

Still around - the Hotel de France.

https://www.defrance.co.uk/

No longer there

2012 BBC News: A derelict Jersey hotel which was destroyed by fire two years ago is to be replaced by flats. The remains of the Mont de la Rocque Hotel, in St Aubin, are to be demolished and nine apartments built on the site together with parking. The fire was caused by a barbecue which was not put out properly, said Jersey Police. Eight teenagers who were at the scene were given cautions. The States approved the plans for the flats at a ministerial meeting.

Recently departed.

JEP 2020: Rob Behan, owner of Water’s Edge Holdings, which owns the site, successfully applied for planning permission to carry out the work in 2017 – two years after the building closed its doors to tourists. He said that whatever happened to the site, he intended to retain the dive centre and have a pub and restaurant there as well. ‘At the moment plans have been passed for a self-catering development which has commenced. Effectively, that is what we are looking to complete,’ he said. ‘We have done quite a bit of work already with the demolition of one building and a lot of stripping out. ‘The issues are with the 60s block, which we had been looking at retaining. There have been problems with the roof and three of the four walls and it needs demolishing. If three walls need to come down, then you might as well bring the fourth one down too.’

Now apartments.

JEP 2005: Last week, after a couple of deferrals, Planning’s applications sub-committee approved revised plans by architects Axis. The 55-bedroom Hotel Rex in St Saviour’s Road will remain open for one last season and Dandara hope to start work later this year on 86 one-bedroom and five two-bedroom studio flats and two town houses. Not all the existing buildings will be demolished. Architect Ian McDonald said that the listed buildings which form part of the hotel would be retained and restored to form the two town houses.

Gone to housing.

Replaced with a hideous block of flats.

JEP 2009: Dandara have published plans today for 45 flats and seven houses on the former Portelet Holiday Village site. The new scheme comes more than two years after the company acquired permission for more than 50 homes on the site. Those plans were scrapped in October after Dandara demolished the old holiday village. At the time, managing director Martin Clancy said that they had realised that the approved scheme would not work. The company have employed UK architect Richard MacCormack, along with local firm Axis Mason, to design the new plans. Mr Clancy said: ‘We are delighted to have attracted someone of Mr MacCormack’s calibre to take our commitment to innovation and quality to the next level.’

Still there. Hurrah!

https://www.stbreladesbayhotel.com/

Summer Holiday

Summer Holiday

The memories begin, of summer’s past:
School’s out. The bell goes, ringing at last;
Time for those long days of forever more:
The days by the sea, days on the shore,
So the warm, balmy summer days begin:
Off to the beach, cold sea, who’s last in!
Doggy paddle, then breast stroke, crawl,
Come out, beach towel, dry off, sprawl;
Halcyon days, sandcastles, spades, digging,
Watch yachts at sea, wind in the rigging;
It’s a jolly summer holiday, so blessed:
Mr Whippy Ice cream, always the best,
Sitting in the deck chair, cool to eat,
Nearby transistor radio sounds a beat;
And don’t forget beach cricket, a game
Pretending to be Fred Trueman, fame
As the tennis ball hits the bat, flies off:
Everyone can play, be a show-off,
Until summer rain ends a perfect day;
But there are other times along the way,
And our aunt takes us all into town:
Cinema when the rain is beating down;
The Bare Necessities, the Jungle Book,
Or perhaps Julie Andrews gets a look:
The Sound of Music, and do-ray-me,
And Daleks in colour: that I must see!
So many happy memories, times past:
Summers of endless days that last!

Sunshine, Sea and luxury in the Ritz of the Channel: 1966

From Jersey Life, 1966. I remember going there for the New Year's Eve parties with my parents when I was around 14 or 15. We had a table for a group of us, my family, the Binningtons and the Miles family (all of the teenagers around the same age). All gone now and turned to flats, of course. So step back in time to its glory days....

Sunshine, Sea and luxury in the Ritz of the Channel Islands By Hugh Charles-Jones

THERE ARE MANY factors which influence the choice of where to spend a holiday. High on the list, particularly remembering the wet disaster of last year‘s British summer, is the sun—and where one can find lots of it. A location rich in romantic natural beauty is today not enough on its own; it must be backed-up by hotels, dispensing luxurious comfort, good food and if possible cheap duty free drinks to go with it. All these elements are to be found in the Hotel de la Plage in Jersey.

After forty years‘ experience in the Jersey hotel industry, the Seymour group decided to build an entirely new hotel and from the site of an old building the de la Plage rose like a Phoenix from the rubble, typifying all that is best in modern architectural elegance. Accommodation is 107 bedrooms, the majority having their own bathrooms and telephones, and television too if ordered.

A spectacular feature of the de la Plage is that it is actually on the sea front facing due south, a few feet away from the beach. All the bedrooms face the sea and have their own private balconies overlooking the vast and beautiful bay.

It is an hotel that caters for all generations, giving them all the different sorts of service and entertainment they seek while avoiding any possibility of friction.

Lawrence and Gillian Seymour, a young married couple with a family themselves, welcome family groups with a true understanding of all their wants and needs. There is a telephone listening service for the children, which is supervised by porters Alfredo and Edward, who have an almost uncanny knack of understanding the young. Supper for the children is held at 6 o’clock every evening and afterwards parents can dance and lose themselves in the pleasures of good food, good company, dancing, watching cabaret and so on, in the knowledge that their toddlers are under constant expert supervision.

Sound proofing throughout the hotel obviates any possibility of inconvenience caused through noise. A view from the hotel over the bay in the early morning sun, in the haze of mid-day heat and the sinking rays of the setting sun on the sea, are such to charm the visitor with a lasting memory.

Actually the bars and dining room are set facing the sea so that those in balconied rooms are in sunshine all day, whether eating, drinking or on the beach. At night the waves wash gently at the sea wall, only fifteen feet away from the cocktail bar. This is very popular with guests who often walk through the open windows and dive into the sea for a last dip before a drink and changing before dinner.

Above them is the sun deck, a positive paradise for sun worshippers where tea, snacks, drinks and coffee are served all day long to those who can stand the heat. This large balcony is a perfect sun-trap, where soaring temperatures of up to 120F (49C) have been recorded, guests are therefore advised to bear this in mind before trying a marathon session of sunbathing.

There is dancing to a residential orchestra every night, and twice a week a cabaret is given by artistes drawn from the big names in night clubs in England and the Continent.

Naturally, to run an enterprise like the de la Plage and to maintain its outstanding reputation a large staff is required. Lawrence Seymour, ex Royal Navy and with three years of hotel management training in Switzerland to his credit, runs a staff of ninety-five, which works out to a proportion of one staff member to two quests.

It is an easy thing for a writer to over praise his subject, but I think the following analysis of the sort of guests who visit and re-visit the de la Plage will testify to the hotel’s excellence far more eloquently than any pen. Company directors, professional men, retired folk, honeymooners and hoteliers from the mainland give a good cross section of the guests; many Continental countries are represented too, Frenchmen, Germans, Belgians and Swedes are often to be found there, so that parents and children can get to know each other in a relaxed cosmopolitan atmosphere. Throughout the year, but more particularly in the off season, companies and associations find the de la Plage an ideal setting for conferences; where hard work can be achieved in ideal surroundings. Also to be found during the year are the frail executives resting on doctors’ orders and they find peace, privacy and mild weather.

Long weekenders favour the de la Plage, especially in view of the rapid communications which can see a company director in Jersey at 11 o’clock Friday morning and back at his London desk by 11 a.m. on Monday, or to Paris, Rome, Brussels or Madrid almost as quickly.

Christmas at hotels, now very much the rage, are held at the de la Plage for four days starting Christmas Eve. There is a full and stimulating programme of entertainment available to guests which guarantee a happy Christmas away from the cold and fog of the mainland. It is well known that Jersey has a most remarkable sunshine record and this I can vouch for, as I write this feature in warm sunshine on the sun deck of the de la Plage Hotel in mid March.

In summing up the Hotel de la Plage, I would say that for those seeking a top-class holiday with sunshine, sea and sophisticated luxury, for those needing peace and quiet or wanting that long weekend or Christmas away from it all the de la Plage has everything to offer and no guests leave the hotel without wishing to return again . . . and soon.

The Storyteller

One of the most unique storytellers by words and art, Raymond Briggs has recently died, and this poem is a tribute to him. Often tinged with sadness - even the snowman melts at the end of that lovely story - he created worlds for adults and children alike. When the Wind blows was an extraordinary look at hour a nuclear holocaust affects an ordinary couple. 

Perhaps his masterpiece, Ethel and Ernest, is also tinged with sorrow, when the doctor tells the father they can have no more children, or the undignified treatment of death at that time. And yet that story also has joy, laughter, social history, wartime history, all told through the eyes of Raymond Briggs in telling his parents story - small, intimate, unique, and yet a glimpse of the universal human experience told honestly with all the joy and sorrow, the hopes and despairs.

Ironically, for tales of snowmen, nuclear winters, I write this during a heatwave. I'd have liked to see Raymond Briggs write about climate change, and how small ordinary people manage, but alas that is not to be.

The Storyteller

Snow is falling softly, a gentle breeze
Walking in the air, the snowman flies
Magic in the sky, only a child sees
But a thaw comes, the snowman dies

When the wind blows, fire in the sky
A shockwave as all the bombs erupt
Government falsehood: protect and die
Nuclear winter, an ending abrupt

Ethel and Ernest, a whole life story told
The world war, a cold wind blowing
And then we see them growing old
Death at the end, and it is snowing

It is very hot, and all snowmen would melt
Farewell, Raymond Briggs, loss deeply felt

Jersey’s Prolific Larder

Jersey’s Prolific Larder

By Gabor Denes

(Jersey Life, 1966)

I HAVE ALWAYS had the greatest respect for the gastronomy of Jersey. I have known the island for a long time, perhaps longer than I care to remember. There was a time in the mid-thirties when I was a frequent visitor, and even in those days, long before I had attained the fully mature state of a sedate epicurean, I used to look forward to my visits with eager anticipation. One was able to live fairly well at that time in England. but, my anticipation was invariably rewarded by delicious meals washed down by excellent wines at very reasonable prices. Ever since I have conserved the belief that the people of this pleasant island know how to live well.

It is not altogether surprising, for conditions are most favourable. Poised between two great countries, geographically so near to one of France’s gastronomically richest provinces, the best traditions of both nations have formed the tastes and standards. The most remarkable treasures of Jersey’s prolific larder come out of the sea, others are grown on the land under quite exceptional climatic conditions. Given the best seafood in ample quantities, the products of the soil at their early, tender best there is a fine foundation for a good table.

An outstanding feature of these unique resources is the compactness of the territory. This means that everything can reach the table in its pristine freshness, on the top of its condition. Living in London, one has almost given up the idea of really fresh vegetables, or perfectly fresh fish and shellfish, but in Jersey these are simple realities. Fish caught in the early morning reach the table in time for lunch, and how different is the flavour of green vegetables, or even potatoes that have not spent many hours or even days since they were picked, travelling and sitting in markets.

Given these perfect ingredients, the hoteliers and restaurateurs of Jersey must be compelled by a form of noblesse oblige; they cannot let the side down, and in their kitchens they produce food worthy of the raw product, and worthy of their own discriminating good taste.

Gastronomic standards have improved everywhere in Britain, from where come the greater part of Jersey’s visitors, since my early visits, thirty odd years ago. The effect of this is an even keener edge to a good cuisine, which, today, satisfies even the gourmets from France, who represent another large group of the island’s tourists.

So today, we find that in Jersey’s top eating-drinking places the repertoire includes the great dishes of French cuisine as well as the best of traditional British food. Is there such a thing as a true local food. Is there such a thing as a true local cuisine? Are there any original Jersey specialities, particular to the island and not originating from either Norman or English cooking?

The answer is definitely in the affirmative, although this is not immediately easily noticed by a stranger. Only those who belong to Jersey, or have lived or visited there for a long time know much about the true local dishes, for they do not appear on the sumptuous menus of the hotels and restaurants. One day perhaps they will be featured with pride and made something of, but up to now they are treated with a little coyness by the people of Jersey, and the stranger has to search for them.

Visitors may have heard of the ormer for example, but how many have tasted it? The same goes for Apple Butter, Conger Soup of Jersey Bean Jar (Des Pais au Fou).

An aura of mystery tends to surround these true local specialities. Take the ormer. I was told that the only other waters in which this mollusc lives are Japanese. One is also told, and this can be accepted, that they can only be harvested on an exceptionally low spring tide. This may be true, and it is equally true that hunting the ormer is a back-breaking, cold and hard job, but well worth the effort. Take the cooking of this rare inhabitant of the half-tide rocks, clinging to them for dear life in its ear-shaped (oreille de mer) hard shell. If it is not properly cooked, it can be tough. Yet some experts swear that only very prolonged cooking can make them edible, others claim that very quick, intensive frying is the best.

I suppose the reason for not finding most of the typical and unique Jersey dishes on smart restaurant menus is that they are homely, family dishes, part of what in France one calls the cuisine bourgeoise. The mixture of haricot beans, butter beans and broad beans, cooked slowly in the oven with pig’s trotters and back fat of pork is obviously not a glamorous dish. of the haute cuisine, but not the less delicious for that. Housewives have their own treasured recipes for the best way to make Conger Soup, another great traditional Jersey speciality, a dish which is a real, unusual joy, but, again, not often offered to the visitor in his hotel.

Many of the old favourites are sweet, unusual and delightful. Milk Floats (Fiottes), Jersey Wondres (Merveilles) were originally the puddings of feast-days, Good Friday and Easter respectively, and Vraic Buns were in olden times taken by the farmers to sustain them when they were working on the beach gathering seaweed (with which to manure their land). The long and laborious process of making the famous Black Butter (Nier Beurre) out of cider, apples, sugar and spices was originally an occasion for friends gathering together and amusing themselves while the cooking went on day and night. Other exciting cakes and puddings worth looking for are the Jersey Dough Cake, Jersey Brown Cake, Gache de Cauelle, the fried Miquelotte.

And for the drink to go with all this? Jersey people are still spared the grimmest duties and taxes on their drink, and one only has to look at the average hotel’s wine list to see that they have the choice of all the best wines and other drinks the world has to offer.

Departures

A slight but I hope pleasant poem reflecting on a few of the actors we have lost this year. 

Departures

They depart, these ever so familiar faces
Sometimes dramatic, sometimes funny
They charmed us with their many graces
When the world was light and sunny

David Warner, one of the Titanic lot
Bernard Cribbins, oh, right said Fred
Nichelle Nichols, a Star Trek spot
Del Monte man, he too is dead

Yet immortal they remain, still there
Like the opening of a Medium’s door
They haunt this visual Neverwhere
As repeats bring them back once more

Their last picture show will run and run
Until the setting of the sun.

Farewell Aunty Iris

Iris Medora Le Feuvre was born in the Parish of Saint Martin, Jersey. She was educated at St Peter Elementary School, and then at the States Intermediate School. During the German Occupation of Jersey (1940-1945), her family hid a Russian prisoner of war, and fed and sheltered him for the duration.  She was employed as a book keeper between 1945 and 1948, when she met and married Eric G. Le Feuvre, a St Lawrence farmer. A committed Methodist, she helped with the inception of the Communicare project. 

States of Jersey: She was elected Deputy for the Parish of St Lawrence from 1978 to 1981, and 1984 to 1999 was Connétable of St. Lawrence. She was the first woman to be elected Connétable. During this time she was President of the Education Committee, and oversaw the replacement of the decaying d'Hautree School with the building of Haute Vallée School.

That's the bare bones from Wikipedia. But for me, Iris was always Aunty Iris. So here are a few personal notes.

She was a friend of my mother, Ann Bellows (nee Shepard) for many years, and we would often go up the spend an afternoon at their family's farm in St Laurence, or she would come down with her family to my mother's house, and we'd play with Andrew (her son) in the garden or go swimming across the road in the sea. 

The clip below, about 50 seconds in, shows her chatting to my mother, with her husband Eric ("Uncle Eric") just to the right of the shot. Her son Andrew also cycles in and out of shot. It's a bit blurred but this is a transfer from an old and somewhat degraded cine camera film.

Of course, everyone who was a close friend of your parent's family, in those days, was an "Aunt" or "Uncle" - it didn't mean you were related. It was just a term that we all used.

On the farm, we would often go out along the country lanes with the Le Feuvre's son Andrew, who was about our age, and  in the autumn collect horse chestnuts when they fell for the conkers. We'd enjoy round the kitchen table conversation, with her and my mother chatting away and good Jersey cooking, with of course all freshly grown vegetables. Of her other sons, I think James was an University and we didn't see much of him, but Peter was often there - like his biblical namesake, "a rock", that we very much looked up to and admired. My sister was allowed to drive their tractor at quite a young age - I think around 12 or 13 - on their fields, and I learned to drive my first car through a pathway set up in a grassy field with tea-chests!

Her other sons, Peter and James would sometimes be there, and Eric her husband I also remember - he was always fairly quiet, which wasn't perhaps surprising with two women chatting! We would also see their flowers growing in the fields - the 1970s were when Jersey grew flowers for export and sale in abundance, and there was no need to buy in flowers for the Battle of Flowers.

She was a committed Methodist, but ecumenism was starting, and there were some joint services, as well as joint harvest festival suppers with St Aubin on the Hill and St Aubin Methodist churches at the Parish Hall. But I always had the belief that Methodists were teetotal, and having attended the communion service at St Aubin Methodist - Iris's church - the communion "wine" was in small cups and was in fact grape juice. So it came as something of a surprise when we attended her son Peter's 21st birthday party in the grounds of their house to find that wine was freely flowing! The miracle of St Lawrence was as amazing as the miracle at Cana!

The one blot on her copybook was when she signed a letter thanking the Maguires for their work when in fact they had been abusing children. That cost her the post of head of the Child Protection Committee and she was sacked by Stuart Syvret. The findings of the care inquiry, however, showed a more complex background, where Anton Skinner, Head of Children’s Services, admitted providing a letter to house-parents Alan and Jane Maguire to secure their swift removal from Blanche Pierre - and effectively bamboozling the committee into accepting it, and Iris into signing it, as he suspected the Maguires of abuse and wanted to move them on as quickly as possible - rather than suspending them pending an investigation. The authorship of the letter, thanking them for their good work, and the flawed reasoning of Mr Skinner only came to light in the Care Inquiry. It is sad that she was manipulated in this way by a persuasive civil servant, but she wasn't the first or last, as we know.

After University, and as I grew older, our families didn't really meet that much, although, with Eric,  she came to my wedding in 1989. In recent years, I still used to see her and chat at the Lent lunches on Good Friday at St Brelade's Parish Hall, where she would often be on the same table as another former Constable, Enid Quenault. I remember her telling me that both herself and Enid decided to retire from the States in the same year - and it was later that year that States members began to be paid - "we just missed out on it all", she said. But in those days, of course, States members were not paid, and it was often considered a matter of civic duty to stand for the States. 

Those from the farming community, as both herself and Enid Quenault were, could often rearrange their time better to attend States meetings, and of course there were less sittings and legislation than we have nowadays. Nevertheless, those States of yesteryear could still make a mark, and looking back through my notes, I was pleased to see that she was supportive of the Women's Refuge in 1987 - 25 voted for, and 22 voted against, some of them very senior Senators.

She still remained a staunch Methodist and the last time I saw her was at a service taken by Rev. Jenny Pathmarajah at St Aubin Methodist (her church) last year. She could no longer drive, but her mind was still sharp. One of her sons - I think it was Andrew - would drop her off and pick her up.

The last word perhaps should go to her family. Their tribute was as follows:

"Her contribution to Jersey extended beyond her parish community, driven by her passion for improving the lives of Islanders particularly young people and women."

"This informed many of her greatest achievements as President of the Education Committee. This included the building of the new Haute Vallée School; the reconstruction of Rouge Bouillon primary school following a devastating fire; and the provision of many new nursery units attached to Island primary schools, an investment in early years provision that enabled mothers to choose to remain active in the workforce."

"After her retirement from the States Assembly in 2000, she was honoured to be awarded an MBE by Her Majesty The Queen for her services to the community, which included the establishment of Communicare, Vice President of the National Trust, Chair of the Jersey Child Care Trust and Chair of the Committee for the Eradication of Poverty – among many other roles."

However, they added: "But perhaps her greatest passion was for her family.

"She was a warm and fun-loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. A proud Jersey woman who will be much missed, and an inspiration to all who knew her."