A busy term for the EHI Scrutiny Panel with more work to be done
Scrutiny
10 April 2026
The Environment, Housing, and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel (the ‘Panel’) has published its legacy report, highlighting the 16 comment papers, three reports, and 15 amendments and regulations that have been presented in this term. The Panel scrutinises the work of the Environment Minister, Housing Minister and Infrastructure Minister.The Panel held 75 public hearings over this period and gathered evidence from a range of stakeholders, including the public, in the form of written submissions, surveys and oral evidence. In addition, they sent 80 letters to the Ministers on a range of topics. These requested information, asked for clarification on policies or legislation, or requested the Minister to take action.
For the first two years of this term, the Panel was chaired by Deputy Steve Luce, and then Deputy Hilary Jeune took over the role with a newly constituted Panel in February 2024 following the Vote of No Confidence.
The new Panel achieved some significant results in its term, not least ensuring that climate change remained at the top of the new Government’s agenda by lodging an amendment to the Common Strategic Policy, which saw it added as a 13th priority.
One of the Panel’s major Reviews was into the Draft Residential Tenancy Law, which addressed significant challenges within the housing market, but after extensive research and consultation, the Panel found it to be highly complex. It therefore made seven changes, to the proposed Law, all of which were accepted by the States Assembly.
Deputy Hilary Jeune, Chair of the Panel, said: ‘Our current Panel has had an extremely busy two-year period which has seen some major legislation within our remit, that will have a big impact on our Island. Our Panel lodged 15 amendments and one Regulation, of which eleven were accepted by the States Assembly. We asked tough questions of Ministers and ensured that all proposals and policy were in the best interests of the public. This highlights the importance of Scrutiny’s work in holding Ministers to account and working collaboratively with them to improve the outcome for Islanders.
It was critical to get the Marine Spatial right in order to strike the right balance between environment protection and the economic viability of our fishing industry, while ensuring we protect our fragile marine areas for future generations. We urge the next Panel to continue to monitor this progress.
‘PFAS was a topic that we raised within our quarterly public hearings and culminated in a stand-alone hearing of its own. There is much more work to be done on this and we remain concerned about how to deal with the problem and at what cost. Due to the significance of these concerns, the Panel found that the Draft Water Law (Jersey) Amendment Regulations were lodged without a fully informed understanding of its impacts and feasibility and so the Panel decided to call in that legislation so that the next EHI Panel can undertake thorough scrutiny of the proposals.
‘The next Panel will have plenty for them to consider when they take on their role, including: upcoming charges for liquid waste and solid waste; the need to monitor the implementation of the Residential Tenancy Law; and a detailed review of the proposed Draft Road Traffic Law (Drug Driving) Amendment Regulations which the Minister for Infrastructure agreed to reconsider due to questions around the evidential basis and lack of a medical defence. We wish the new Panel well in undertaking its work.’
Read the Legacy Report.
