Agenda for Amos Group meeting on July 7th

Agenda for AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY on Wed. July 7th at 5.15 at  St. Thomas Welcome Centre

Opening prayer  

Welcome to Trish Tumelty, who works with Early years  groups. She will update us on the work with pre-school children.  I have just received information about the 'Early Years and Childcare partnership'.   It seems that  things are really moving forward in this area at last

Briefly
Income Support Scrutiny panel   Update 
Response to Island Plan consultation,   A response  made by EGLeQ and public hearings to be held at end of September
Future date  Wed. Sept. 8th   

The Grace

Amos Group - Waterfront Presentation

Minutes of AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY on Wed. May 19th at 5.15 at  St. Thomas

ELeQ welcomed Mr. Stephen Izatt to the meeting.   SI has been Managing Director of WEB (Waterfront Enterprise Board) since May 2007 having run his own development companies and more recently been involved in the Edinburgh waterfront.  

He went through a Powerpoint presentation, making these points (and others)

The landfill started in 1985.

WEB was set up in 1996 with the Chief Minister as chief shareholder and all money needing to be approved by the Treasury.
It has  received about £43m in public money.

He said there were some myths about, for example that the public has had no say, though there have been several public consultations  or that it is little used.     He agrees that the Radisson is badly designed and the swimming pool was not an adequate replacement for Fort Regent pool, though it was built exactly as requested by the States at the time.  He also agrees the cinema is in the wrong place but there is a long term lease to Cineworld. so it will stay for some years.   It is still not clear what the effect of the collapse of company running Liquid will be.

His present directors, John Tibbo and Peter Crespel+ States members Dan Murphy, John Refault and Eddie Noel are very supportive.+ finance director Lee Henry.    There has  been quite a turnover of chairmen (5), States directors (16),managing directors (3) and changes in States policies.   However WEB has assets worth £88m and a cash balance of £6m.  It intends the future assets should remain in Public hands, generating an income year on year.
 
Some WEB developments include Les Jardins de la Mer, Route du Port Elizabeth, the carpark with a grass area on top, Maritime House and Albert and Victoria Place Housing.   All these have been successful.  The Leisure Centre is less successful and still has a 20 yr lease.   Harbour Reach has 42 units, all of which were sold off plan, though he  agrees they are too small. The Radisson is picking up, helped by being an international brand.  Liberation Station and Liberty Wharf have been completed while Harcourt have been given  a 60 day deadline to complete their work on the abattoir site.  He is proud that the Weighbridge site remains open space and didn't have an Art  Gallery built on it.  Many of the flats in Castle Quay phase one have also been sold and are slightly bigger..

In the future they are planning Westwater, 11 expensive apartments behind the Radisson and Zephyrus   58 apartments, sharing a common basement.

He hopes there will be a debate on June 22nd on the setting up of a States of Jersey Development Company with the prime purpose of acting as a delivery vehicle for surplus States of Jersey property.    It will have an independent chairman, a managing director, finance director and non-executive directors, both States and non-States.  Hopefully it can be set up by the end of the year.  

Other big projects include East of Albert going step by step, first the New North Quay.   He says it must retain low cost berths for local boat owners.   Also SoJDC may have to oversee  developments at the old JCG, St Saviours Hospital and the North of town master plan..

He foresees the Esplanade Quarter development proceeding building by building as there are firm commitments from  finance clients, starting at the Castle St end   Only when several are complete would there be any thought about sinking the road.  ( We didn't get into the wisdom of that, which Amos has strongly opposed)

Our overall feeling was that there was a real strategic vision and a determination to get the maximum benefit for the people of  Jersey.  We thanked Mr Izatt for his presentation.

 

Minutes of AMOS GROUP

Minutes of AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY on Wed. April 7th at 5.15 at  St. Thomas

1.   Opening prayer on Easter hope led by Adrian Pearce

2.   Income Support Scrutiny panel have held meetings with Age Concern and St Clement Senior citizens.  Also held two stalls on Saturdays in the precinct.  Lots of questionnaires filled in and entered on computer for analysis. St Clement Welfare support team with one paid officer and  a team of volunteers give a real human face to income support.  Much work now needed to have the report available by end of June.

3.     Response to Island Plan consultation.   ELeQ had put in a late submission about the general tone rather than point by point analysis of what is a £25 document, which he declined to buy.  See below

4.     Response to Long term care consultation.  Again made submission so that those who could afford more made a bigger contribution.  See below

5.     CAP, Christians against poverty, is a group that started in Bradford some years ago and has a vision of a debt counselling centre in every town in Britain by 2020.   Martyn Shea has money for 5 people to attend a course in Bristol on Sat. May 15th to be trained in giving advice for money matters.   Does anyone want to take up this challenge?   See www.capuk.org  for more details.   Adrian suggested church treasurers might be suitable candidates for this post and will ask the treasurer at St. Lukes

6.   Jersey Link.   Work on the  Summer edition continues, including a look at websites, a report on Street pastors, on Mission Africa, on Cardinal Newman etc.    Items of news always welcome.   We are still uncertain who will take over as JEP link from Ron Felton.

7.   The book  "Deep economics' makes an excellent case for an economics that is much more local and personal.  The author Bill McKibben comes from Vermont in the USA.    A book by Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh explains the creation of social business.  He founded the Grammen Bank, which launched the idea of microcredit and won him the Nobel Peace prize.   This new idea has led to the creation of a yoghurt that is very healthy for young children just being weaned.  It is sold at low price in recyclable cups ( and soon he hopes edible !)    It is a business that runs in a sustainable fashion without regular inputs of aid and is aimed at clear social goals.    He worked with a French multinational that helped to design micro size plants that worked in Bangladesh conditions.  The title is "Creating a world without poverty'.    He is well worth reading.  It is capitalism with human aims that people feel excited to work for.  Perhaps it is rather like the Divine chocolate story.

8.   Stephen Izatt of WEB (Waterfront Enterprise Board) has agreed to come and speak on Wed. May 19th  It should be interesting to hear about WEB.  He will be bringing a PowerPoint presentation.   

9.  Future dates  June 2nd and July 7th both at 5.15. . At one of these we hope that Trish Tumelty will speak about her work with children

10.  The meeting closed with the grace at 6.30

Comments on the Island plan.

I am not putting forward an item by item comment on the proposed plan, but would like to suggest a real change in mindset for Jersey as we are facing a very different world with a rising cost of energy and a growing concern about climate change.

I would like to commend the case put forward by Michael Shuman, at a Chamber of Commerce lunch lecture in February  It was well-summarised by Harry McRandle in the JEP.

It is a real wake-up call for Jersey.  He said that the TINA mindset (There is no alternative)  believes in attracting Toyotas   (i.e. big global companies)
promoting exports  (develop potato exports rather than local food) reassuring locals (big office buildings at the Waterfront and more immigration is what we need!)
my examples in brackets for his 3 points.   An example this month is to promote the case for an extra supermarket in Jersey, which will take more money out of the Jersey economy.

The LOIS mindset (Locally owned, import substitution)  looks forward to the time when oil prices are much higher and self-sufficiency becomes important.  He mentioned the Transition Towns initiative in UK as similar.    In the USA, it goes by the name of BALLE (Business Alliance of Local Living Economies)
www.livingeconomies.org  gives more details of what looks like a fast growing movement, as the massive amounts invested in mega banks have little effect on the small local economies. In Jersey we have the world's biggest banks, top 500, but can't organise a simple thrift club for ordinary people at St. Martin.

LOIS also has lots of good effects on civil society, with more participation

He listed 6 P's
Planning  - Plug the leaks where money is spent away rather than locally
People  -  Support local entrepreneurs
Partners  - Compete through collaboration between local businesses
Purse -  Harness pensions locally   Our pension contributions could be invested in local enterprises
Purchasing  - Support local campaigns i.e. Think twice, buy local
Policy-making  - Remove the anti-LOIS bias.  Don't keep inviting outside firms

There is leakage from Jersey as mortgage and credit card interest leaves Jersey. There are a variety of ways to encourage local purchases, through coupons or gift cards.   The main message is that public policy should do all it can to build up local businesses. There is much more on his website   www.small-mart.org    but I hope you can see the sense of his approach and its relevance to Jersey.

On the social front, there needs to be a big drive for affordable housing.  This can be partly by building more houses by the Housing Dept and not-for-profit housing trusts rather than private developers.  Action needs to be taken on the Whitehead report.   There should also be an effective rent control tribunal so that people can get an opinion from an independent body about their rent level.

The welcome boost to investment in services for under 5's as shown at the Bridge and with the provision of free nursery places for all for 20 hours in term-time should be extended.   This is an investment which pays back in reduced costs of teenage crime.

We are still waiting for the proposals in the licensing law to be put into law. They would help to reduce the heavy costs to the health service and the police of Jersey's alcohol problem.

The income support system has had some benefits, but has reduced the personal and often non-monetary support provided by parish welfare staff.   This is being rebuilt in St Clement and needs to be in place in other parishes.  Caring services is perhaps an area where young people seeking work could be employed to provide support for elderly people.

Another area where the talents of young people could be used in Overseas Aid.  A spell spent in a developing country would provide a massive boost for young people at relatively low cost.  The Jersey Overseas Aid Commission is reluctant to spend any of its budget locally so it may perhaps have to come from another budget, but a regular supply of young people for 6 month spells abroad would seem to be an investment in people.   The Jersey One World Group are holding a celebration of 40 years of Overseas Aid trips taken by Islanders so it is a well-established system.

So let us think globally but act locally. This slogan applies even more in the coming decade.

Ed Le Quesne
March 2010

Comment on Funding Long-term care

There is a sharp division between those who just have their OAP and those who have a generous occupational pension too.  There is also a big difference between those who reach 65 owning their own homes with no mortgage and those who are sill renting.

In many cases older people are subsidising younger members of their family, rather than being a 'problem'.   Thus people over 65, who have the means to do so, should continue to pay a contribution  to the social security fund, which will be able to help them at 80 or 90 when they will eventually need care.

The burden of funding long-term care should not just fall on people of working age.  Many of the current 60+ generation are the fortunate ones who had subsidised education and lower housing costs when they were younger.

Ed Le Quesne
March 2010

Amos Group

Ed Le Quesne has issued this message:

Subject: Amos meeting cancelled

Dear All,

In view of the weather forecast of heavy snow tomorrow afternoon and a light agenda as nothing much went on over Christmas / New year, I agreed with Barbara that we will cancel the meeting set for tomorrow.  Our next meeting is due on Wed.Feb 10th.

Keep warm.

Ed

Amos minutes Dec. 2nd

Minutes for AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY on Wed. Dec. 2nd at 5.15 at  Pastoral Centre

1.    Elizabeth was welcomed to her first Amos meeting of 2009. The opening reading was by Dietrich Bonhoeffer "God waits for and welcomes sincere prayers and responsible actions'

2. ELeQ reported that the Income Support Scrutiny panel has asked for information from States members and others about any recent experiences  of the IS system.  Questions are also being asked to find data about how the IS system is being used.  Dr. Martin Evans of Oxford University is the adviser with much experience of welfare systems.   Housing costs are a major factor in peoples' budgets.

3. The Whitehead report on social housing suggests big changes are needed in the way Housing is financed.  A linked report on affordable housing is looking at ways of providing affordable housing in Jersey and has a number of suggestions.  GB reported that a project in Guernsey had found that there are a number of sofa surfers, young people who sleep for short periods on a friend's sofa before moving on.  There may be a similar situation in Jersey but information is lacking.  Poverty and Homelessness week is 30th Jan to 7th Feb and may be a chance to have a seminar about the issues then.  Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity of an affordable home should be a high priority.  Then in that context other issues can be addressed, i.e. leaving care, coming out of prison etc.

4.  The One World Group evening about StoptheTraffik at SHMC was felt to be very successful.  BC was thanked for her letter to the JEP.

5.  The Jersey Link was looked at and ELeQ commented on some articles. EM reported that copies had not yet reached her church.

6,  Dates for next Amos meeting were agreed as Wed. Jan. 6th, Feb. 10th, March 10th

7.  Some of the items circulated by e-mail were discussed.  The tax loophole for luxury yachts was felt to be wrong.   It was agreed that personal donations to charity should generally be made privately rather than with much publicity.    David Warr's article in the JEP on the collateral damage from narrow concentration on finance is welcome.   There is a need to think carefully about introducing competition but avoiding protectionism.

8.  The meeting finished with the grace at 6.30.

Agenda for Amos Group, Wed Dec 2nd

Agenda for AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY on Wed. Dec. 2nd at 5.15 at  Pastoral Centre

1.  Opening prayer 
2.  Income support scrutiny panel
3.  Response to the Whitehead report on social housing   Poverty and Homelessness Week is 30th Jan to 7th Feb.
4.  One World Group event  re STT and follow-up.  
5.  The Jersey Link, comments
6.  Set date of next Amos meetings
7.  AOB
8.  The Grace

Amos Group - Minutes for October

Here are the Minutes of the Amos Group. My own comments on the Transport Policy were submitted to Amos and have been posted on this blog at http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2009/10/trasnport-consultation.html.

They were mostly in agreement with my suggestions, except for the priority bus lanes, which may be impossible to engineer in the small space, but I still think could help (having seen them in Exeter), and an MOT, which they propose as long as it is relatively simple (and every two years), which is a good suggestion.

Amos is an ecumenical group, "the Social Responsibility Group of Christians Together in Jersey", and details of the group's activities can be found at http://www.ctj.org.je/amos_issues.htm



Minutes for AMOS GROUP of CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN JERSEY on Wed. Oct. 7th at 5.15 at Pastoral Centre

1. The opening prayer was led by Adrian Pearce 2. We went through the response that Tony had circulated about transport policy. We made these comments:

We agree with a more "graded target", such as cut traffic by 3% each year over 5 years, so that each year the target could be measured.

Surveying mixed forms of transport:

We think there is need for a range of vehicle sizes, including double-deckers for busy routes (provided there are very few 'no go' parts of the Island) and some smaller vehicles for less busy routes. We regret the loss of the Hoppabus service in town, linking estates on the outskirts of town with the centre with easy access to town centre shops

Smart Card System for Buses:
This is a good idea to speed up access, and to encourage more use by offering discounts for multiple journeys. Use of buses would be encouraged if bus shelters were provided at more places.

Incentives for Park and Ride
This is a good idea. A cheaper season ticket for a more remote parking locations combined with an economic shuttle service in an out of town park and ride scheme would be useful in keeping commuter traffic out of St Helier. The shuttle service only needs to run at the start and end of working day.

Short term Shopping.
We do not agree with the demolition of Minden Place car park. It provides more central parking for shoppers in the markets. A car park at Ann Court is too far from the shopping areas. .

Incentives for School Bus Use
The main incentive for school bus use by children is a convenient timetable. No need for the promotions - books for schools, sport equipment for schools -by commercial companies. There are always going to be less on the buses going home as schools have a range of after-school activities.

Congestion Charge
We do not agree with the introduction of a congestion charge. The cost of a day's parking in St. Helier is a type of congestion charge. Off peak (9.00-5.00) for Jersey there is no need for short term shoppers, or people needing to visit the hospital etc. to pay anything other than their scratchcard fee.

States Members Parking
We agree that States members should not have free parking. However they should keep their pre-allocated parking and pay a parking fee. . Priority Bus Routes
Bus priority lanes are not practical in Jersey Better Engineering of Traffic Flow

Congestion has been improved by better traffic flow with gyratory systems (the one by Wellington road works well for example).

No need for formal MOTs?
We do feel there should be some regular check made on older motor vehicles to ensure they are safe. The honorary police road checks are not all-embracing to do a really effective job of getting unsafe cars off the road.. A formal check can be included as part of the annual service that cars have. It should be done once the car is 5 years old and every 2 years after, recognising Jersey's relatively low mileage. The point of sale could also act as a simple trigger for this, and any car to be sold would need a certificate of road worthiness, as long as it was relatively simple. This would also benefit the buyer.

Cost of Road Maintenance
Large commercial vehicles should stick to limited routes. The location of potato packing stations in the countryside does encourage the heavy vehicles into country roads. There should be suitable routes for HGVs in Jersey.

There is an online consultation on Transport at:
http://www.gov.je/TransportTechnicalServices/Transport/STP.htm

3. The Social Security Dept have given a clear response to the Income support scrutiny panel a .pdf of their response if available from ELeQ. There are some further issues to follow up. ELeQ to continue on the panel. 4. We welcome the decision to set up an Ombudsman for financial matters, long-awaited.

We hope there will soon be a depositor protection law in place for accounts in Jersey bank accounts up to £50k.

We welcome the Home Affairs Minister's commitment to a review of the licensing law with the aim of reducing harmful levels of alcohol consumption.

5 The J.O.W.G. have appointed Lucy Layton as Centre Manager for 3 hours per week, to help Primary teachers. The New Internationalist catalogue offers a number of books, Amnesty cards etc on international issues at a big discount on RRP. Catalogues will be circulated soon.

6.. ELeQ had written to Guy Brandon from the Jubilee Centre, author of a book called 'Just sex? Is it ever just sex', which tries to set sex in the context of relationships in general. It led to a general discussion on the balance between rights and responsibilities . There is perhaps an increasing swing back to stressing responsibilities rather more than rights, which is welcome

7. The meeting closed with the Grace at 6.40

Dates of next Amos meetings Wed. Nov. 4th, Dec. 2nd at 5.15 at Pastoral Centre

Ed Le Quesne 7 / 10 / 09

Note: With regard to Data Protection, this posting of mine is to give the Amos Group a wider circulation. However, the Amos Group minutes are public domain, and can be found at

http://www.ctj.org.je/Amos/2009_10.pdf

Amos Minutes 9 Sept 2009

AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY

Minutes of meeting on Wed. Sept. 9th at 5.15 at  Pastoral Centre.

1.   The opening reading came from "Eternal Springs" on hope for the present.

2.   ELeQ went to the consultation on migration policy on Tuesday lunch. It was disappointing to learn that the suggestion of a welcome pack for new arrivals when they register for their card is merely a pious hope with little intention of actually doing it.  It was good news to learn that our children, who were not Jersey-born but did all their schooling in Jersey, who currently lose their "quallies" by living away for over 10 years, will retain them for life with the new law.   Apparently some people are strongly against any sort of card, but we are happy with this minimal card.  AW produced a copy of the response of Concern, which confirms that the proposed law will enable an accurate count of Jersey's working population and the means to control it, without setting any targets for the actual level.

3.   We are aware of a number of pending items and wonder why they are not yet on the statute e.g.
- a depositor protection law for accounts in Jersey bank accounts up to £50k.
- a review of the licensing law with the aim of reducing harmful levels of alcohol consumption. (and goes nowhere near as far as the recent UK proposal to ban alcohol adverts)   
- a strategic plan that has no focus on housing at a reasonable rent but instead delivers high-priced, undersized units.
- implementing a new gambling law after a review a couple of years ago.
- a Sunday trading law  and probably others.

4.   A call to the Statistics unit says they only collect total wages  and total number of workers in each company, thus can only calculate a mean wage,  not a median.  Work is going on to discover more detail of  the distribution of wages within companies.

5.    A Child protection conference is being run on 9th Oct. by Hanson Renouf, though the fee is ?175!  A letter by Barbara Corbett to the JEP in Aug. set out the need for a no fault approach to divorce.  This sensible letter is attached.  Lady Oppenheimer also sent in an excellent letter but I currently don't have a copy.  We also hope that the States will pass a law agreeing to recognise civil partnerships.  Anti-gay rhetoric reveals a bigoted reaction contrary to the image of God we get in Jesus.   We are less certain about how to protect the rights of sisters or friends who share a house for a long time when one of them dies. Perhaps it can be done through a will.

6.     Ian Le Marquand sent a letter appreciating the input of Barbara Corbett and saying that he favours the Scottish system (based on mediation, I believe).rather than our present top heavy Royal Court based system.  Perhaps he can move us this way.  

7.     AW suggested that we write to the Associations page of the JEP to raise our profile. .

8.     J.O.W.G. now has a base at the Town Hall, with an opening ceremony on Fri. 18th Sept. for official guests and members.  We shall be open for primary heads and their PSHE teachers on Tues.22nd and Wed 23rd sept. from 3.30 to 5.00.  We have 2 applicants so far for the post of Centre Manager for 3 hours /week.  We hope an appointment can be made soon.  The New Internationalist are offering a catalogue of diaries, books and calendars  + Amnesty items at 35% discount, so sales of these items may be a function of the JOWC.

9..    We are glad that the sex offenders register is going to be extended to Jersey, though it is important that there are clear guidelines to limit the disclosure of the information

10.    Dates of next Amos meetings  Wed. Oct. 7th, Nov. 4th, Dec. 2nd at 5.15 at Pastoral Centre
Ed Le Quesne   10 /  9 /  09

Minutes of Amos June meeting

Some searching comments on Income Support, followed by an interesting talk by Deputy Sean Power on Housing in Jersey. I remember Deputy Philip Rondel, when he was canvassing last year, pointing out that people are buying and selling on first time properties even before they move in.

I still think that a property capital gains tax on the French model - which diminishes the tax payable over a fixed period (perhaps in Jersey three years), would raise revenue and target property speculation, which either with first time buyers or elsewhere, distorts the market. Of course, a mention of capital gains tax always has people saying we don't want the UK capital gains tax, which is very insular, as there are many models for capital gains, and the French seems quite fair and just. It targets people who want to just make a quick buck out of buying and selling, rather than genuine owners.

AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY
Minutes of meeting on Wed. June 3rd at 5.15 at  St. Helier Methodist Centre.

Present: Adrian Walton, Adrian Pearce, Christine Le Marquand, Ed Le Quesne. Apology: Barbara Coram.

1.   The opening prayer was a challenging one by St. Augustine

2..  Comments on the Green Paper on Licensing Law review have been submitted before the June 1st deadline.  We generally welcome the reforms proposed.

3.   Eco-active guide 'Turning point' - Two more people took copies.

4.   Income Support scrutiny panel is finding the application process is not clear to users and there is a lack of personal support for vulnerable claimants.  Though HIE has ended there is not a clear process in place to ensure that people in need have access to free X-rays.  It is presumed that those with £250 of savings are earning interest at £1 per week!! Also savings have to be used up to meet special payments.  Some benefits such as family allowance should be available before 5 years of residence.  We would like people to be informed early of the change to their benefit when the transition period finally ends so they can be prepared for it. The report should be out this month.

5  The Employment Forum has circulated a paper looking at whether those in therapeutic work should be entitled to the minimum wage. Adrian Pearce has some experience in this field and will prepare a reply.

6. ELeQ spoke of the benefits of an account with Triodos Bank, which invests in ethical businesses and has continued to prosper over the past  year.  The Bank began in Holland and has a UK base in Bristol.  He has had an account for several years

7. There was a look at the range of articles in the recent Jersey Link.  On inspection it was not too biased towards the JEA, though those present had not had time to read it all.

8.  Date of next Amos meeting was set for Wed . July 1st at 5.15 back at Pastoral Centre.  

9.  At this point Deputy Sean Power, assistant Housing Minister, arrived on his bike after a long day in the States.  He said the the Residential Tenancy Law (RTL) report has been tabled and will be debated and hopefully approved next month.  It will ensure that there is a document setting out clearly the duties of landlord and tenant. To the comment that it was a lot of bureaucracy, he said that some landlords needed to raise their game.

The next step is a migration policy that will give every person in Jersey a card with their name, address and number.  This will clarify exactly who is working in Jersey. Then there will be a tenant deposit scheme, probably making use of the Community Bank.  Then there will be regulation and inspection of the unqualified sector  Long awaited but I believe firmly on track now.

Soon Professor Whitehead's review of social housing will be published.  She is likely to recommend that the Housing Dept is put alongside Housing Trusts, and private landlords under a Jersey Housing Authority.
Reducing the 12 year quallie period to 11 years recently meant that 157 extra people could buy though only about 50 could afford to buy.  The aim is to reduce the period to 10 years eventually

When rent rebate was introduced in 1992, it cost £1.7m, now it takes £23m p.a. a big part of the Housing budget and means there is a small sum left to maintain States housing. The main beneficiaries have been landlords who have raised their rents as the rebate has risen.   Money is being raised by selling properties.  The States have just decided to cut the number allowed in to 300 a year for the next 3 years then review again.  The number of J cat has been sharply reduced, companies are expected to find local candidates.  Also unlimited J cat have been stopped and are issued  for 3 year periods and will then be reviewed.

He gave us the surprising figure that 88% of States tenants have an income of less than £12k p.a.   He  also gave us a figure of 780 single Mums with one of more children requiring accommodation.  Added to this very high figure is fact that many of them don't have simple housekeeping and cooking skills.  He has been to Guernsey to see a hostel type scheme which brings young mums together to offer them support  and training in life skills.

Deputy Power is aware that some people are buying first time buyer properties and selling them for profit before they even move in!  He will be ensuring contracts specify no onward sale for a minimum of 5 years as used to be the case.

Mr. Eric Le Ruez is soon going to be appointed as chair of the rent tribunal in Jersey to give some independent view on a fair rent, which hasn't been in place recently.

Deputy Power has not enjoyed some of States business with the unstatemanlike behaviour, but is enjoying the Housing work and his work in St. Brelade and he set off by bicycle for home, tea and a meeting at Communicare in the evening.  

We are very grateful for his frank exchange of views and for the energy he is bringing to housing policy. 

The Meeting finished  6.30
Ed Le Quesne   4 /  6 /  09

 

Amos minutes, May 09 2009

AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY
Minutes of  meeting on Wed. May 6th at 5.15 at  Pastoral Centre, St. Thomas .
Present: Adrian Walton, Adrian Pearce, Barbara Coram, Claire White, Christine Le Marquand, Ed Le Quesne

1.   Opening prayer "Open our eyes' by Alan Paton from Housing Justice

2.   Deputy Sean Power, assistant Housing Minister, did not arrive, reasons unknown

3.    ELeQ has received a copy of the Inspector's report on the Waterfront plan.  It was the first public inquiry in Jersey.  It was recommended that in future they are not held in school holidays and have more notice for the public.  Though the inspectors approved the plans with some requirements for firm planning conditions. However it didn't address the question of whether we actually needed it and in the present climate it is unlikely to go ahead.  AW now has the report to look at.

4.  ELeQ has had 10 copies of the Eco-active guide  'Turning Point' .from Louise Magris.  Some people took a copy.   It has about 100 pages of factual information.  It is looking forward to an energy policy being published. £1.5 m is being invested in energy-saving measures for over 60's.   A report by the tidal power strategy group is due  to be published soon. Eco-active is spreading to more businesses.

5 . We looked through the proposed review of the licensing law.  Quite far-ranging changes are proposed to nudge people to change their behaviour by making alcohol less freely available and clarifying the law to have 2 rather than 7 licence categories.  A copy of the report is available for anyone who wants a look.  ELeQ will prepare some comments before the 1st June deadline.

6.  The States Strategic plan requires a response by 21st May.  It was described as 'motherhood and apple pie'  and does lack an emphasis on environmental matters   ELeQ hopes to read it carefully before the deadline.

7.  ELeQ said that the Scrutiny panel on Income Support should publish their report in about a month's time.  The health aspects have been poorly planned and implemented and the personal contact has been lost.


8.  ELeQ explained some of the background to Christian Aid's campaign about tax in the light of recent controversy   A booklet, 'The big tax return'. has been produced by Christian Aid, which shows Jersey is not the target but it is Uk, EU and big accountancy firms.  Openness and transparency is one important principle and country by country reporting of company profits is another.


.9.   Dates of future Amos meetings  Wed  June 3rd, July 1st both at our new time of 5.15.  


10.  The Grace was said  at about  6.30


Ed Le Quesne   6 /  5 /  09

Amos minutes - March 4th

AMOS GROUP of  CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN  JERSEY
Minutes of meeting on Wed. March. 4th at 5.45 at  Pastoral Centre, St. Thomas .

Present: Barbara Coram, Adrian Pearce, Claire White, Adrian Pearce, Ed le Quesne and guests Deputy Anne Pryke and Louise Magris

1.    The chairman read an opening prayer from Methodist Relief
2.   We had a wide-ranging discussion with our guests and were impressed with the range of work being undertaken.

An initial survey has identified tidal and offshore wind as the two most viable renewable energy sources around our Island.  A group led by Constable Dan Murphy and including Deputy Power, Deputy Duhamel and Sir Nigel Broomfield and Alick McIntosh (a carbon trader living in Jersey) are now setting up terms of reference to include a legal and financial framework  for the next phase which will look at specific sites and possible developers.  It is hoped to form a partnership with other Channel Islands and have a  C.I. grid.  As tidal power has predictable daily peaks and troughs it makes sense to link with the French grid.  A 2 way interconnector is due  to come into operation by 2012.  It will take 10 to 15 years to get in place, but there is enough energy for the C.I. to be a net exporter of energy to France after supplying all our energy needs.  A 5 megawatt marine current turbine is being tested at Stanford Loch, but the technology will have changed  and improved by the time we are ready to order.

The Eco-active website has about 800 hits per month, with users staying an average of 4 mins, quite good for websites apparently.  Eco-business is gathering strength with one a week signing up and moving up the 3 levels of accreditation.  It  is sponsored by Standard Chartered.  Eco-schools is due for launch this month, with HSBC as partner.  JCG and Grainville are already in the national Eco-schools scheme on which the Jersey scheme is modeled.  It will include items like sustainable travel plans for pupils, cycling proficiency.  The annual Environment week in June, now in its 4th year includes 5000 children taking part.  Funding is being sought for an Environment Co-ordinator to support the enthusiastic teachers that are in most schools.

The Environment Dept won £1.0 million in the 2009 Business plan which will be available for grants for home insulation measures along with a voluntary donation of £0.5m from the JEC.. The groups being targeted are those on income support who qualify for cold weather payments and those over 65 on the health scheme.  They are offered a free visit by an energy advisor, who may recommend loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, lagging, draught proofing etc.  If the home owner agrees the work will be carried out by an approved contractor at no cost to the occupier.   Contractors are rushing to become approved as this money will stay in the local economy.    Up to 600 homes may qualify for this aid, only for home owners.  There is a separate scheme for States tenants, where Housing  are bringing forward energy saving measuring in their 10 year upgrade programme.  Deputy Pryke urged many people to apply for this initiative.

To promote energy efficiency in business eco-business is carrying out a 3 stage process,  The first targets behaviour under the slogan 'No excuses', looking at behaviour like switching off computers etc when not in use., by making sure unwanted lights are switched off ..  It will point out money savings as well as energy saving.   The Treasury procurement group is looking at a strategy tried in Lancaster replacing 1000's of desktop  printers with about 200 multifunction machines, print ,scan, photocopy.  It will introduce a gap between a person deciding to print and the actual operation and may reduce the amount of printing.    The Earth Hour is another part of awareness raising.    New buildings are much more energy efficient.  Some investments can be made in older buildings with reasonable  payback times.

Allotments at Les Creux have been approved and 60 at Mont Cochon are going through the planning process.  Potentially 60 sheds/green houses on this plot causes some worry to the planners so there is no great hurry to approve more sites.

An integrated transport plan is trying to reduce peak traffic by 15% but this is a challenging target in Jersey, where people like their car.  An Eastern cycle route is likely to come about in a number of small steps as the old railway route has been built on.

The energy policy, following the green paper, was held up by the election process at the end of last year.  However Senator Ozouf has now taken it up and it will go to the States  in the 2nd or 3rd quarter this year.  Once this is in place, with official targets, then the Transition Town initiative, which links peak oil and climate change, can be promoted.  Electric points have been included in plans for the Westmount quarry development as electric cars are likely to become more common in Jersey.

The move up from 32% to 36% recycling will be challenging for Jersey with a cost for taking items off Island for recycling,   At present there is no place for dealing with food waste by anaerobic digesters.

The Waterfront plan report to Senator Cohen is not being released at the moment while Harcourt are being checked out.    The States own the Masterplan  so could turn to an alternative developer if Harcourt are not approved.  Higher density housing in town is needed to cope with increased demand for Housing.   The new water resources law will allow better management of our water resources.   Raising reservoir walls rather than a new reservoir is the preferred option for increasing storage.

Our sea defences are evolving to cope with likely effects of climate change on sea level.

Solar power is still not widely used in Jersey .  Technology including thin panel silicon cells are developing rapidly 

Both guests were warmly thanked for their responses to our questions.  The meeting ended at 7.15.
Ed Le Quesne   5/  3 /  09


Extra notes
Apologies were received from Deputy Sean Power.  He had a matter to deal with at St. Brelades so could get to our Feb. meeting.  I hope he will attend  our April meeting

 ELeQ is a lay member of the Scrutiny Panel on the new Income Support system   We have heard a variety of witnesses and will be writing a report to come out in April.  The lack of a personal touch is something everyone is aware of and it will be addressed

We are requested to put forward any names for the Statistics User  group.  Peter Surcouf already represents us.  I don't know of anyone else interested.  It has been advertised and I can pas on more details if anyone would like to apply.

One World Group AGM will be on Thurs. March 26th at St. Martin Public Hall. Ian Gorst will speak. 

Dates of future Amos meetings  Weds. April 1st, May 6th

Amos Group - Recent Minutes

http://www.ctj.org.je/amos.htm
Here are the recent minutes of the Amos Group of Christian's Together in Jersey, which may be of interest to readers of this blog.


Who are we? One of the sections of Christians Together in Jersey. We look at social and political issues in Jersey in the light of the Christian gospel of good news for all.

Why Amos group? We take our name from the Old Testament prophet Amos, who had a vision of a society where "justice flows on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing torrent" (Amos 5:24) (and it is less of a mouthful than "The Social Responsibility Committee of Christans Together in Jersey"!)

The minutes do appear on their website - so are in the public domain - but are rather out of date at the moment, so here are the last two sets of minutes. There is an interesting note that they do not see the exemption of GST - from food - as a way forward, and I should note that I have changed my mind on that and am inclined to agree - provided the rate stays at 3% - but no comment has been made on exempting GST from electricity (a far simpler proposition as there is a single supplier, and far more beneficial given the huge increases in electricity rates this year effective people on the margins, such as elderly home owners not eligible for income support, but surviving on a pension alone).

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AMOS GROUP of CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN JERSEY
Minutes of meeting on Wed. Jan. 7th at 5.45 at Pastoral Centre, St. Thomas .

Present: Christine Le Marquand, Barbara Coram, Claire White, Adrian Pearce, Ed Le Quesne
Apologies: Adrian Walton, Tony Bellows, Gill Carter
1. The opening prayer, on Epiphany, was led by Adrian Pearce
2. It was decided to invite Advocate Tim Hanson to a future meeting to explain some of the issues he has found in dealing with cases of child care in Jersey and where changes are needed.
3. To meet its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the child, a draft child employment law has been produced which tries to set out a possible law.
It is aimed at young people under 16. Its main points are
• Children are not allowed to carry out paid employment if they are 12 years or younger.
• Children cannot work at all during school hours or unsocial hours – before 6 am or after 8 pm. They cannot work for more than five days in a week.
• Children must have enough breaks and time off. If approved, the law would give them at least one 30 minute break if they work for more than four and a half hours.
• Children must also have two consecutive weeks off work every year – and this must be in a school holiday.
We hope this law is seen as a safety backup because in general good parents should make the decisions about what their children should undertake. Responses are needed by 27th Feb so ELeQ will prepare a draft response before our Feb. meeting. The full paper is on
http://www.gov.je/Health/ChildEmployConsult.htm
4. Following Ian Gorst's election as Social Security minister and the controversy about the income support system, it was agreed to send him a letter of support but urging that some form of personal contact was built into the system as many elderly people can't cope with an entirely paper based system.
5. ELeQ introduced the Transition Towns handbook. Started just 2 years ago at Totnes in Devon, it brings together the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change and the need to work towards more resilient and diverse local systems. It builds on ideas already put forward by genuine Jersey, Fairtrade and other groups and needs a core group to take it forward. Possibly the One World Group could take it up. Well worth further consideration, the book only arrived the day before. .
6. Issues for 2009 will emerge in the next few weeks but we do look to a tenancy law, an ombudsman, a scheme on redundancy, more consumer protection, an energy policy, a discrimination law and take up the living wage campaign. We also await responses on Sunday trading, gambling control and new directions in health care for which consultation ended long since..
7. We hope that GST will not be removed from food. It introduces more complexity, especially for hotels as Claire pointed out. Instead an increase in income support is much better targeted..
8. Dates of future meetings Weds. Feb. 4th, March 4th, April 1st, May 6th
9. The Grace was said by all at 6.45
Ed Le Quesne 7 / 1 / 09

AMOS GROUP of CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN JERSEY
Minutes of meeting on Wed. Feb. 4th at 5.45 at Pastoral Centre, St. Thomas .

Present: Christine Le Marquand, Barbara Coram, Claire White, Adrian Walton, Adrian Pearce, Ed Le Quesne
Apologies: Tony Bellows, Gill Carter, Martyn Shea.
1. Opening prayer was from the Methodist Prayer book for 08/09
2. The draft response to proposed child employment law, sent round earlier, was approved with a couple of extra comments. The final response is at the end of these minutes.
3. A letter has been sent to Ian Gorst re income support system and some form of personal contact by staff with claimants, but no response has yet been received.
ELeQ has been asked to be a lay member of the Scrutiny Panel on the new Income Support system by chairman Geoff Southern and will discuss the possibility next Tuesday Meetings are fortnightly 12 - 2 on Tuesdays.
4. Deputy Sean Power did not arrive so this is left for another day.,
5. Deputy Anne Pryke and Louise Magris from the environment dept have both agreed to attend our March meeting. Some questions we would like to ask include
How much investigation is going into using the plentiful resources of tidal, solar and wind energy around our Island?
How much use is being made of eco-active?
Are tax breaks or grants going to be made for house insulation, lot insulation etc to promote energy efficiency more noticeably
What is being done to promote energy efficiency, by making sure unwanted lights and computers are switched off when not needed.
What is being done to encourage allotments on unused farm land?
What about the cycle network toe encourage people out of their cars?
Is there any move to promote the Transition Town initiative, linking peak oil and climate change
What effort is being made for recycling, Jersey still invests too little in the facilities
Are we locked into the incinerator contract
Will the population decrease automatically with the downturn in the economy or does it need active control?
Is the Waterfront plan dead and buried and will the area be used for leisure or housing?
We look forward to what they have to say.?
6. ELeQ said that the CTJ Housing Trust are looking for two new Trustees. Several suggestions were made, which he will follow up.
7. One World Group AGM will be on Thurs. March 26th at St. Martin Public Hall. Ian Gorst will speak.
8. Dates of future meetings Weds. March 4th, April 1st, May 6th
9. The Grace was shared at 6.45 and some members went off to Alpha course classes

Ed Le Quesne 4 / 2 / 09

Draft Child Employment Law:
The Amos Group of Christians Together in Jersey has considered the draft child employment law set out in the recently published paper.
1. We agree that it should be aimed at children of less than 16.
2. • Children are not allowed to carry out paid employment if they are 12 years or younger. The main area of difficulty here is children helping with their parents in activities like farming, fishing or shops. It is right that there should be a backstop in law for parents who make very unreasonable demands on their children but the law should not bbe used to stop the occasional assistance in return for pocket money.
3 • Children cannot work at all during school hours or unsocial hours – before 6 am or after 8 pm. The restrictions on hours of employment in a day and a week as set out in article 4 seem reasonable,i.e
(1) A child shall not be employed −
(a) on any school day, for more than 2 hours;
(b) in any week during a school term, for more than 12 hours.
(2) A child aged under 15 years shall not be employed −
(a) on any day which is not a school day, for more than 7 hours;
(b) in any week during a school holiday, for more than 25 hours.
(3) A child aged 15 years shall not be employed −
(a) on any day which is not a school day, for more than 8 hours;
(b) in any week during a school holiday, for more than 35 hours.
(4) For the purposes of this Article −
(a) any reference to a week during a school term includes a week in which a school term begins or ends;
(b) any week that that is not a week during a school term is a week during a school holiday.

4. When it says that children shall not be employed on more than 5 days a week, it seems to indicate that school is not work, or there would be no Saturday job in term time.!

5. • Children must have enough breaks and time off so article 6 seems reasonable. i.e.
(1) In each period of 24 hours, a child shall have a rest period of at least 14 consecutive hours.
(2) Where a child works for more than 41/2 hours in a day, the child shall be entitled to an uninterrupted rest period of at least 30 minutes.
(3) In each period of one year, during a school holiday, a child shall have a rest period free of work of at least 2 consecutive weeks. This again seems reasonable. A child in full-time education as they must be up to 16, should not be working every school holiday.
.
We hope this law is seen as a safety backup because in general good parents should make the decisions about what their children should undertake.
We realise that it is difficult to monitor when children have jobs withtwo or three different employers, but on the whole parents should be monitoring this.

Ed Le Quesne
Chairman
Amos Group
February 2009

Agenda for Amos group, Wed. Feb. 4th

All are welcome to come to this, although clearly it is for Island Christians mainly, who have an active interest in social justice issues.

AMOS GROUP of CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN JERSEY

Agenda for meeting on Wed. Feb. 4th at 5.45 at Pastoral Centre, St. Thomas .

1. Opening prayer
2. Draft response to proposed child employment law
3. Letter sent to Ian Gorst re income support system and some form of personal contact by staff with claimants
4. Welcome to Deputy Sean Power, Assistant Housing Minister, to talk about Housing issues. It is Homelessness and Poverty Action Week from Jan 31st to Feb. 8th.
5. Questions on the environment and energy. Deputy Anne Pryke and Louise Magris have both agreed to attend our March meeting. They will explain the political considerations in this area and will be happy to answer any questions so just a few minutes to propose some questions
.6. A.O.B.
7. Dates of future meetings Weds. March 4th, April 1st, May 6th
8. The Grace
Ed Le Quesne 29 / 1 / 09