Maintains a register of all units of dwelling accommodation

WQ.378/2023

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER

BY DEPUTY S.Y. MÉZEC OF ST. HELIER SOUTH QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 9th OCTOBER 2023 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 16th OCTOBER 2023

The Chief Minister tabled a revised answer on 19thOctober 2023 to this question following a decision by the Bailiff , under Standing Order 12(4)(c), that the original question was not directly relevant to the question asked

Question

“Will the Chief Minister confirm –

1. whether or not she maintains a register of all units of dwelling accommodation, in accordance with article 16(1) of the Control of Housing and Work Law;
2. how a member of the public may inspect this register, in accordance with article 16(2) of that Law; and
3. if she is not complying with this Law, why not, and when she will be addressing this?”

Answer

1. As part of administering the Control of Housing and Work Law, systems are maintained which register all units of dwelling accommodation, and record information on categories of properties as Qualified or Registered, and any conditions or concessions.

Since 2012, this has been considered to sufficiently satisfy the requirements of Article 16(1). However, I have asked for this position to be reviewed as part of the work outlined below in part (c).

2. Article 16(2) provides that any person may inspect the register during normal business hours. However, at present, the information is not organised, nor is the technology configured, such that it can be made available for routine inspection by the public in line with Article 16(2).

For this reason, since 2012, the Customer and Local Services Department have responded to any request seeking clarification on the categorisation of any unit of dwelling accommodation, and whether there are any conditions or concessions to which that categorisation is subject.

3. Article 16(2) provides that any person may inspect the register during normal business hours. Currently, it is not possible for a person to inspect the full register.

The categorisation of a properties in Jersey, and conditions and concessions applied, change over time for a variety of reasons, and therefore there is considerable complexity in maintaining a full register that is accurate and complete at any one time. This is why, since 2012, when a request is made by the public for information, checks are undertaken by the department before confirming the details on any specific property.

Discussions have begun to use technology solutions to enable access to a full register as required by Article 16(2), and for any data quality issues to be resolved as part of this, including any required changes to internal departmental processes.

I do not have an implementation date for this work, in advance of more evaluation of the investment required. In the meantime, the process as outlined in part (b) applies whereby members of the public may ask for details on any specific property.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, and hastening efforts to remedy the situation.