Next week’s States Meeting
States Assembly
6 March 2026
On Monday 9 February, the next meeting of the States Assembly will commence at 2:30pm. The meeting takes place in the States Chamber and is open for the public to attend, as well as being broadcast live on our website and on the States Assembly YouTube channel.Oral Questions
States Members will question Ministers for up to 2 hours and 20 minutes. These oral questions are issued to them in advance (i.e. ‘with notice’). Details of next week’s oral questions with notice can be found on page 6 of the Order Paper.
The following Ministers will then answer oral questions which they have not been given in advance of the meeting (i.e. ‘without notice’) for 15 minutes each:
- Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel
- Minister for Treasury and Resources, Deputy Elaine Millar
- Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham
The Assistant Chief Minister, Deputy Malcolm Ferey will make a statement regarding a review of the Freedom of Information Law.
The Chair of the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Montfort Tadier, will make a statement on the Ferry Service Concession Agreement Interim Report.
The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Deputy Inna Gardiner, will make a statement on the Arm’s Length Bodies, Grants and Subsidies Review.
The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Steve Luce, will make a statement on the first report of the Climate Council.
Public Business
The States Assembly will then begin debating the following:
| Proposition: | More information: |
| P.47 Suspension of Deputy P. F. C. Ozouf of St. Saviour |
The Privileges and Procedures Committee is proposing that Deputy Philip Ozouf is suspended for 28 days, with immediate effect, for breaches of the States Members’ Code of Conduct. It follows the Deputy’s conviction and sentencing by the Royal Court for assisting unlawful immigration. Read more: bit.ly/4tELq33 |
| P.112 Draft Alcohol Licensing (Jersey) Law 202 Please note: The amendments to this debate will not be taken in order of submission, but in relation to where their amendments impact the Law. Therefore, please refer to our live X feed for information as the debate progresses because the amendments will be debated in parts and some may fall away if others are voted in successfully. |
The Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel, is proposing changes to Jersey's alcohol licensing regime to reduce the complexities and speed up the process. Under the proposals:
The principles were approved by the Assembly on 22 January 2026. Debate will resume on the articles, with any amendments taken in the order they appear within the proposed law. |
|
|
The Comité des Connétables is proposing an amendment to allow Constables to act as the determining authority for alcohol applications within their parish, rather than the proposed Alcohol and Gambling Commission. Read more: bit.ly/4qFyuaL |
| Deputy Alex Curtis is proposing an amendment requiring licenced premises to provide customers with free tap water, unless it cannot be supplied easily. Read more: bit.ly/4tAcD77 |
|
| Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache is proposing an amendment to retain the Licensing Assembly as the body which approves applications for liquor licences. It does not reinstate the current number of categories and accepts the proposal to reduce those to three. Read more: bit.ly/4rkkpQK |
|
| The Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel, is proposing an amendment that would move oversight of alcohol licences to the Regulation Directorate instead of the proposed Alcohol and Gambling Commission. If approved, the Regulation Directorate would be required to publish any applications on the gov.je website, and provide an explanation to a Parish Constable if its decision differs from that of the Parish Assembly. The amendment also sets out the membership of the Alcohol Policy Board and the key objectives it must deliver and removes proposals to introduce civil penalties. Read more: bit.ly/3ZED0eo |
|
| The Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel has lodged an amendment to the fourth Amendment, which would remove the Attorney General as a named member of the Alcohol Policy Group. Read more: bit.ly/40IgsK1 |
|
| P.113 Draft Food (Jersey) Regulations 202- | The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Steve Luce, is proposing new regulations under the Food (Jersey) Law 2023. These regulations aim to:
Read more: bit.ly/4oMvFn6 |
The Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel has proposed an amendment which would:
|
|
| P.114 Draft Food (Jersey) Commencement Act 202- | The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Steve Luce, is proposing a Commencement Act which, if approved, would bring the Food (Jersey) Law 2023 into force seven days after this Act is passed. Read more: bit.ly/4aI1b22 |
| P.5 Draft Sexual Offences (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-. |
The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, is proposing the Draft Sexual Offences (Jersey) Amendment Law, which seeks to improve the ability of the criminal justice system to effectively respond to different forms of intimate image abuse, and strengthens existing offences relating to the sexual grooming of a child. In particular, it will add additional offences that involve the use of technology and expand the scope of offences relating to grooming children to cover meeting that child in any part of the world. Read more: bit.ly/4aaReZ8 |
| P.6 Draft Harassment and Stalking (Jersey) Law 202-. |
The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, is proposing the Draft Harassment and Stalking (Jersey) Law. The aims of the new Law are to improve the ability of the criminal justice system to respond more effectively to perpetrators of harassment and stalking and to strengthen the protections for victims. In particular, the Law introduces four new, robust offences and introduces additional measures to protect victims, regardless of whether the perpetrator has been convicted. Find out more: bit.ly/4bALwC9 |
| P.7 Draft Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-. | The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, is proposing the Draft Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Amendment Law. The main aim is to improve the protections available for victims of domestic abuse whether or not the perpetrator has been convicted. The amendments will therefore introduce pre-conviction emergency barring notices, which are issued by the police, and pre-conviction barring orders, which are issued by the courts. Read more: bit.ly/3ZhH2sM |
| P.8/2026 Draft Crime (Strangulation) (Jersey) Law 202-. |
The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, is proposing the Draft Crime (Strangulation) (Jersey) Law, to improve the ability of the criminal justice system to respond more effectively to perpetrators of strangulation. This introduces a standalone offence of strangulation following the recommendations from the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce report and is due to the very serious harms associated with strangulation, even with small amounts of pressure. Read more: bit.ly/3ZdvCGz |
| The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs is proposing an amendment which modifies the defence of consent to bring it more closely in line with other legislation and expands on the definition of strangulation to include deliberate actions that restrict the flow of blood to a person’s brain. Read more: bit.ly/4rLSYiK |
|
| P.9/2026 Draft Crime (Public Order) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-. | The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, is proposing the Draft Crime (Public Order) Amendment Law, which is intended to allow the justice system to better address threats of sexual harm. The law expands the definition of a criminal threat to include threats to commit the most serious sexual offences including those which do not constitute rape. Currently the Law only provides that for threats to meet the criminal threshold, they are to kill, rape or cause serious physical injury. Read more: bit.ly/3ZBsuVf |
| P.10 Draft Sanctions and Asset-Freezing Law (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202- |
The Minister for External Relations, Deputy Ian Gorst, is proposing an amendment to the Draft Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Jersey) Law 2019, through which Jersey implements all United Nations sanctions and all autonomous UK sanctions. This Amendment ensures Jersey remains aligned with the UK; and seeks to require a financial institution to provide the Minister with information about a person it knows or has reasonable cause to suspect, intends to commit an offence under this law – whether that person has a connection to that institution or not. Read more: bit.ly/4l9LKmG |
| P.11/2026 Draft Comptroller and Auditor General (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- |
The Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham, is proposing amendments to the Comptroller and Auditor General (Jersey) Law 2014 to strengthen the governance, accountability and transparency of the office responsible for auditing States accounts and the wider use of public funds. If approved, the changes would mean that:
|
| P.13 Bailiff’s Consultative Panel: Amendment to Term of Office | The Privileges and Procedures Committee is asking the States to agree that after the election on 7 June, the members of the Bailiff’s Consultative Panel will be chosen at the same meeting as that which Scrutiny Panel members are chosen. Also that the term of office for Members of the Panel shall align with the election cycle. Read more: bit.ly/4u2YW0v |
| P.14 Treating Children as Children | Deputy Philip Bailhache is requesting that the Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning replace the existing Trans Inclusion Guidance for schools and education settings, with the document entitled ‘Treating children as children: a safeguarding approach to trans-identifying children and adolescents in Jersey schools.’ The Deputy has also proposed an amendment which would allow the Minister to make any minor modifications to that document that the Minister deems appropriate. Read more: bit.ly/4sivNgb Amendment: bit.ly/4b14CiO |
| P.15/2026 - Draft Health and Social Care Professionals Register (Jersey) Law 202 | The Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Tom Binet, is proposing the introduction of the Health and Social Care Professionals Register Law, which would standardise the registration process for regulated health and social care professionals in Jersey The Law aims to address inconsistent registration requirements across the professional groups and improve oversight of healthcare professionals who are practising in Jersey. Read more: bit.ly/4tfQ3jV |
Deputy Tom Coles is proposing an amendment to this proposition which would:
|
|
| P.16/2026 - Draft Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 202- | The Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Tom Binet, is proposing to replace the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997. The new law would allow termination up to 21 weeks and 6 days for any reason; remove the requirement to prove "distress"; and reduce the mandatory number of doctor consultations prior to termination to one, amongst other changes. Read more: bit.ly/4agLiOq |
| P.17 Agreement between the Government of Jersey and the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain: Elimination of double taxation (taxes on income) and prevention of tax evasion/avoidance | The Minister for External Relations is asking the States Assembly to approve the text of the Agreement between the Government of Jersey and the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain for the Elimination of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income and the Prevention of Tax Evasion and Avoidance. Read more: bit.ly/3OGDBtH |
| P.18 Draft Sea Fisheries (Trawling, Netting and Dredging) (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202- Please note: the Minister will need to ask for the minimum lodging period to be reduced in order for this to be debated. |
The Minister for the Environment is proposing the Draft Sea Fisheries (Trawling, Netting and Dredging) Amendment Regulations. These would bring the management of mobile and passive gear into one place and update modern technical standards. The Regulations also deliver the Marine Protection Area network specified in the Jersey Marine Spatial Plan. Read more: bit.ly/4qXM7Ta |
| P.20 Comptroller and Auditor General: appointment Please note: This debate will be held ‘in camera’ in accordance with the Comptroller and Auditor General (Jersey) Law 2014. The vote will be held in public. |
The Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham is proposing that Paul Dossett is appointed as Comptroller and Auditor General, for 7 years, with effect from 1 January, 2027. Read more: bit.ly/4rbiVYn |
| P.23 Ministerial Office: independent support to Ministers | Deputy Moz Scott is proposing to give Ministerial Office staff a protected, independent way to give advice and support to Ministers, especially when challenging senior civil servants. Staff supporting Ministers are line-managed within the Cabinet Office and are answerable to the CEO. Read more: bit.ly/46aOycU |
| Deputy Kristina Moore has lodged an amendment which would request the Chief Minister to commence all necessary actions, including legislative changes required, to meet recommendation 35 of the Democratic Accountability and Governance Sub-Committee report and to legally embed the right of the Cabinet Office to support Ministerial functions, independent of the Chief Executive Officer. Read more: bit.ly/4ubTDMb |
|
| P.27 Assess Affordability of qualifying State Pensioners receiving Home Carer’s Allowance | Deputy Max Andrews is proposing that the Minister for Social Security:
|
| P.28 Political Parties and election expenses: online publication of information | Deputy Moz Scott is asking the States to request the Privileges and Procedures Committee, in consultation with the Judicial Greffier and Jersey Electoral Authority. To undertake the necessary legislative changes in time for the next election in 2030, to require the online publication of: The register of political parties and statements of accounts Declarations of donations over £500, whether received by individuals or parties. Read more: bit.ly/4u1Kequ |
| P.31 Assessment of visual impact in green backdrop zone planning applications | Deputy Moz Scott is proposing that the Minister for the Environment takes the necessary steps to ensure that all planning applications for sites within the Green Backdrop Zone, and likely to have a visible impact, include both a text and pictorial assessment of that impact. And, that the Minister publishes draft guidance no later than the end of 2026. The Deputy’s proposition will likely be read as amended by her own amendment which seeks to split the two areas above from a third proposal, which calls for additional resources to support the application of policy GD9. Read more: bit.ly/4r4JYo4 Amendment: bit.ly/47pNKBk |
| P.39/2026 Draft Elections (Electoral Registers) Amendment (Jersey) Commencement Act 202- | The Privileges and Procedures Committee is proposing a Commencement Act to bring into force changes to electoral law, agreed by the States Assembly, to introduce Automatic Voter Registration (AVR). The Committee lodged its own amendment to this Proposition, which would bring the changes into force on the 24 March, rather than 17 March as originally stated, in order to allow additional validation checks. Read more: bit.ly/4kN9jBA Amendment: bit.ly/4aNbamu |
| P.44 Curbing growth of Public Sector: end-to-end review of Government processes | Deputy Moz Scott is proposing that the Chief Minister commission an end-to-end holistic review by the Chief Executive Officer of executive government processes, including: pay and management structures, and performance frameworks. This review will supplement proposals to curb public sector growth which were due to be published by the CEO in February 2026. Read more: bit.ly/4aV30XW |
| P.46 Assisted Dying – unbearable suffering | Deputy Geoff Southern is proposing that the Draft Assisted Dying (Jersey) Law 202-, should be extended to include persons suffering from an incurable physical medical condition (which is not terminal) that is giving rise to unbearable suffering that cannot be alleviated in a manner the person deems to be tolerable, and to request the Minister for Health and Social Services to make the necessary changes to the Law. Read more: bit.ly/4so1pkE |
| P.48 Use of Cash in Jersey | Deputy Montfort Tadier is proposing that the Council of Ministers take the necessary steps to ensure that from January 2028, businesses selling in-person goods and services must accept cash, unless they are exempt according to a list of reasonable exemptions to be developed in consultation with stakeholders. And, to bring forward a policy paper on the long-term plans for access to cash and cash usage in the Island, including examining the fees banks charge for depositing or withdrawing cash, to be presented to the States Assembly by March 2027. Read more: bit.ly/4aLqEYf |
A notification when each debate begins, a summary of the Proposition and the results of each debate will be shared on the States Assembly X page (formerly Twitter) throughout the meeting.
A summary of the meeting will be shared at the end of each day on the news section of the States Assembly website. A summary of the voting for each individual Member and Proposition is also available on our votes page.
