Dear fellow parishioners. Three years ago when you elected me as a Deputy for St Saviour No.1 District, you were unhappy with ministerial government and felt that you were being ignored. I promised to represent your views in the States and also to assist you individually with any problems or issues that arose.
Parish Involvement
I’m glad many found my monthly drop in sessions useful and I shall continue to hold these regularly. Your telephone calls and emails are always appreciated and I want you to feel free to contact me at any time on 077797756359, j.macon@gov.je or jeremymacon1@gmail.com.
It was good to meet many of you at all the Parish events as I believe your Deputy should always try to be present at everything that involves his parishioners. The pensioner’s lunches are always extremely entertaining however I have been concerned about your welfare during the snow and the cold winters and hope you will always feel free to call me if you require assistance.
I am on the St Saviour’s Battle of Flowers Committee and have helped to raise funds through “calling” at the bingo sessions and working at the fetes and sales. I am also a deliverer of “La Cloche” our parish magazine.
Plat Douet Road School kindly invited me to attend their events and to spend time with year 5 each year as part of their Citizenship Programme course and attending their own debate in the States Chamber. I am very enthusiastic about this incentive and my involvement with the school has been an excellent opportunity to get to know many of our district’s parents.
Being your Deputy is a great responsibility and I have undertaken this with honesty, hard work and enthusiasm on your behalf. I hope you feel that I have stuck to my election pledges in the way I have voted in the States.
Below are the issues you raised during the last elections, a brief statement of our agreed opinion and where I have had the opportunity, how I have voted in the States on these issues or what I have done to promote your interests.
In the district
I have fought for pedestrian crossings on Longueville Road and Bagatelle Road but unfortunately have been unsuccessful so far, however some of the alleged impediments to these proposals have now been removed and I shall pursue this crucial cause anew if re-elected.
The speed of traffic on Longueville Road and Rue de Pres continue to be a problem however working with the Honorary Police together we have introduced S.I.D (smiley face signs), which has made drivers more conscious of their speed. Hopefully, if we can introduce the crossings on Longueville Road this will also have the added benefit of assisting in reducing the speed of traffic in this area.
I have managed to persuade the Parish to paint a 20MPH sign on Belvedere Hill and would like to see some speed bumps introduced.
Control immigration & enforce job promotion from within the Island
You wanted to see the 5 year rule being stringently enforced and this is increasingly important in view of the unprecedented local employment, particularly amongst our school leavers. Local employers are increasingly granted licences with ease to enable them to employ newcomers to the Island immediately upon arrival in areas such as finance, which simply cannot be acceptable, when locally qualified people are unemployed and capable of filling these vacancies. It would appear that increasingly people that have been here for 5 years once employed then bring in their friends and colleagues from outside the Island to work with them, thus reducing the opportunities for employment for locally qualified people. Given that the States have changed the Regulation of Undertakings Law to allow the States to change the number of unqualified licences ad-lib, in view of the current unemployment levels this provision should be used to reduce the number of unqualified licences currently available. This would curb the poorly controlled immigration that currently exists as if people are not allowed to work here then it is unlikely that they will stay here permanently and their families certainly will not join them here.
Where “J-Cat” are concerned, I still want to see it being made far more difficult to obtain “J-Cat” licences and a hefty fee being charged for any that are granted. It is well know that currently there has been little effort made at succession planning for locally qualified people to succeed current “J-Cats”. I want to be made clear to employers that a repeat “J-Cat” licence will be extremely difficult to obtain apart from areas such as Health and Education and even then for non–administrative posts only. When a organisation applies for a “J-Cat” licence they should have to submit their procedure for succession planning and periodically they should have to submit a progress report to ensure that they are not circumventing the process.
The States have recently approved a modification to the Social Security card however; this is only a registration system and not a work permit. I believe that we should introduce a work permit system similar to that of Canada and Australia; only granting work permits to non-qualified people when we cannot fill these vacancies locally. This system should not be expensive to implement as we already operate a visa system for those outside of the EU.
Immigration to the Island has associated costs such as healthcare, education, demands on housing and public utilities. Most of these facilities are available in some form to those coming into the Island immediately without any historic financial contribution.
Promote & encourage Jersey owned & small businesses / Diversification
We all want to see more economic diversification in addition to a healthy finance industry and I believe we should be doing far more to encourage local business by way of tax incentives to enable them to compete more readily with on-line businesses and business giants.
With the introduction of work permits employers would find themselves having to train locally qualified people and would be encouraged to take part in apprenticeship schemes which would operate in conjunction with tax incentives.
Foreign owned Jersey companies and companies operating in Jersey should pay tax in Jersey in order to create a level playing field for Jersey owned Jersey companies.
Whenever possible I have always voted in the interests of locally owned local businesses and will continue to do so.
GST
We did not want GST and most of us fought against its’ introduction. I have continued this fight and have supported every attempt to introduce exemptions. Though introducing exemptions would produce its own problems, I have felt compelled to support them due to the regressive nature of this tax and in line with representing my constituents’ views. I also opposed the proposal to raise GST to 5%. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful and as you know, GST has already risen this year. I will however continue to oppose this terrible tax at every opportunity.
We wished to see the Social Security ceiling removed so that those earning over £40,700 continued to pay 6% Social Security on their total salary. It has been claimed that we do not need this revenue but the amount of Social Security employers will pay on salaries over £40,700 will rise to 2% from 2012. Medical care and accommodation for the elderly is becoming increasing expensive and employees’ Social Security contributions will rise from 6% to 7.5% from 2013. I believe this could have been funded by removing the Social Security ceiling and not increasing the burden on middle Jersey yet again. If re-elected I will continue trying to remove the Social Security ceiling.
The income support system is flawed as it doesn’t encourage the recipients to benefit from being employed, it needs to be restructured so that people have incentives to work; this could be done by making the system more flexible by having a graduated response rather than an immediate reaction to earnings to encourage people to adapt to the work ethic.
Fort Regent
Restoring the Fort to its former glory is still something we would like to see and I have supported propositions in the States to establish a working party to achieve this aim, which I believe could deliver well needed recreational facilities for younger people in this area.
Highlands College / Further Education
You were concerned at the rise in the cost of university fees and the facilities for further education available to our local students. I have resisted any reductions in the funding of university fees by the Education Department. I have supported the expansion of degree courses at Highland College allowing students to gain qualifications who otherwise could not afford to go to university, although I would see like to see the cost “top up fees” being funded by the department as some students are denied the opportunity of a university education through lack of funding.
In addition to this I have been a member of the Education Scrutiny Panel that has produced many reports that have challenged the management of the department and that also opened up extra provision for children with severe autism.
As part of the efficiency savings for the Education department I would like to see uniform timetabling for all secondary schools which would enable them to share facilities and the subsequent costs involved. It could also allow for greater choice for each student ie. where their school is unable to offer certain courses they may be able obtain this at another school.
I believe that Jersey has a good education system and I would fight to protect Hautlieu school in it’s current form as I believe that for some students this form of education is essential.
Deemed Distributed Law
Jersey owned Jersey companies were penalised by the introduction of this law which meant that all profits made by their companies were viewed as income to the shareholders for tax purposes, even if they do not receive a penny from the company. For the self-employed, their Social Security payments went up dramatically. I stated that this was an ill-considered law and was not compatible with the “level playing field” for all companies which the OECD demanded. This law has been rejected by the OECD and the COM has finally had to concede that it must be removed. I am very pleased that it will be discarded from 2012.
Housing
We dreamed of having affordable housing for our people built on the reclamation site and more provision being made for local housing. Instead of this the reclamation site is being developed for housing for “investment” purposes mainly and it was proposed by our Planning Minister to have even less provision made for parking on new developments, despite the horrendous problems already encountered. However, I brought forward an amendment to the Island Plan to ensure adequate parking provisions within new developments which was adopted by the States Assembly.
As a member of the Planning Applications Panel I have opposed unsuitable developments despite opposition from planners and architects. There has been public outcry due to unsuitable development which have detracted from their surroundings and I have consistently voted against these.
Within the New Island Plan there is a provision that encourages renewable energy installations and thermo efficiency; I support this policy in view of the soaring fuel costs and the problems encountered by my elderly constituents.
I have continued to put your interests first to ensure that if you do manage to get your feet on the property ladder that you have a home where you can be happy and comfortable with adequate facilities.
Protection of the countryside
You are
adamant that our green fields should not be developed and the recent Parish
meeting concerning the proposed development of Field 528 is a good indication of
how passionate you are about this. I assisted the people organising the meeting
and the on-going opposition and will continue to do so. I also supported the
protection of the green zones through the recent Island Plan and the “Line in
the Sand” some time ago which was a good indication of how strongly you feel
about protecting our countryside.
As a member of the Planning Applications Panel I have also fought to protect green fields from Development and if re-elected would continue to do this.
Public transport
The bus service continues to be an on-going issue with many and there is still room for improvement. Some of you have contacted me regarding the new bus timetable and I am consulting with Connex to see how I may assist you. Additional funding has been made available for the public transport system which should result in improvements.
I still would like to see US style small school buses with supervisors as well as drivers. People on income support would welcome the opportunity of part-time employment and parents would be happy to pay a reasonable fare to avoid the daily school trips. Our current bus system is inadequate for some of our schools as younger children are not allowed to use the school buses on their own so parents with more than one child still have to provide transport themselves which is counter-productive. We need to make better provision for school transport as well as getting people to and from work. Currently if you are in a country parish often no convenient buses are available after 6pm. The COM has adopted a sustainable transport policy and this needs to be practical if people are to be able to make use of public transport. This would also help with reducing the amount of traffic coming into the Parish.
The Incinerator
Despite much public protest the incinerator has been built. There are now plans for Jersey to take in Guernsey and Alderney’s refuse. I know you are unhappy about this and the impact of the huge building on the coastline. I would not support importing refuse from any other jurisdiction.
Safeguard free childcare
I have supported more childcare provision being made and was recently extremely disappointed that some parents now have to pay for more of their childcare. If we are to fight more immigration we need to utilise the local workforce and both parents are often forced to work simply to meet the rising costs of living in Jersey. I shall continue to support the provision of childcare whenever possible.
Make States Members & civil servants accountable for their decisions
Many parishioners tell me they are frustrated at the unaccountability of civil servants who are even given “golden handshakes” when they are forced to resign and at States Members who do not vote in accordance with their election promises. I have supported propositions to make civil servants and States Members accountable for their actions which unfortunately have been defeated, however I shall continue to support any measures to achieve this goal.
I was successful in obtaining a review into the awarding of contracts following the appointment of the new hospital director on an outrageous contact and I am hopeful that this will result in stricter controls over such contracts.
Transparency of Government
You wanted to see more States consultation with local people, not just experts and people who have no idea what it means to struggle to live in this Island and you wanted the COM to explain why and how they come to their decisions. I have supported all propositions questioning other States Members in this regard and have asked pertinent questions of my own. I shall continue to pursue transparency in our government.
Demonstrating my commitment to accountability I have held monthly surgeries and hopefully if you have not agreed with my voting record you would have taken the opportunity to discuss this with me. I continue to welcome your calls and e-mails.
Conclusion
I have greatly enjoyed working for you and with you and although much of my time in the States Chamber has been frustrating because good propositions that would benefit you are rejected and additional taxation and costs which I know are going to make life even more difficult for you are adopted. However what has been achievable has given me the optimism to seek re-election and I know that I have always voted in favour of my fellow parishioners and the taxpayers.
I hope you will agree I have served you honestly and conscientiously and I would be honoured to represent you for another term.