Jersey Reform Day.
This site is dedicated to the day, now officially recognised annually by the States of Jersey, to mark the anniversary of the events of 28 September 1769.
Jersey's own Independence or Bastille Day.
Frances Oldham QC presented the final report of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry Panel today 23 September 2019 at St Paul's Centre, Jersey. This was a "two year review" of progress since their main Report was published.
She spoke for 90 minutes. This has been recorded and can be made available if there is enough interest.
The panel - herself as Chair plus Alyson Leslie and Sandy Cameron - having worked on the problems of children in Jersey for 6 years. They will not return to consider further progress.
Prof Sandy Cameron CBE was available for interviews by the press and bloggers and appears below interviewed by Mike Dun. The interview has not been cut ;
Chief Minister Senator Le Fondre and Children's (and Housing) Minister Deputy Sam Mezec were also interviewed by Mike Dun. This interview is uncut and appears below ;
Alan Collins the English lawyer who has been prominent in representing and fighting for the rights of many children in Jersey for over a decade was interviewed and this appears below. This interview is also uncut and the sound is not perfect.
This evening 19 September 2019 I attended a semi-public meeting organised by the Deaf Partnership Board.
It was a very good meeting addressed by Minister of Health Deputy Richard Renouf and a team of about 8 persons with particular roles in the "deaf community" of Jersey.
There was an "audience" of about 60 plus persons many of whom had hearing impairments or had a personal interest in the subject. There was a very lively and outspoken Q and A session which included many criticisms of services available past and present. All speakers were supported by signers and visual caption screens that displayed their speeches and presentations.
Unfortunately there were some technical problems with the screens and the hearing loop did not work
I recorded the Minister's address and his summing up and it is linked here but was asked not to record other participants, signers or the public but I recorded one short interview after the meeting with a woman from the audience.
There was much critical comment from participants at this meeting and many defects were outlined that I have encountered over 40 or more years in Jersey.
The range of defects described were extensive and encountered in most aspects of life from babyhood to adulthood, in education at all levels, employment, consulting with doctors, interpretation etc and all manner of communication difficulties.
It was made sadly obvious that "techno" wizardry is not sufficiently reliable and will not provide all the everyday answers needed. There was resistance to the use of some technical aids in certain situations.
Time and time again the expressed need was for trained persons to be employed - not machines - with particular "deaf awareness" knowledge as well as BSL skills to level 3 and beyond.
There is a great shortage of such people in the UK to draw upon.
One in Six people are reckoned to have a hearing impairment and there are 6,000 hearing aid users in Jersey.
Videos below - Deputy Richard Renouf's address to the meeting as Minister of Health;
Below is Richard Renouf summing-up;
Below is an interview with a woman from the audience ;
Discrimination evidently presents itself in many forms in Jersey and such meetings are needed much more often to help combat it and other unfairnesses.
This blog is dedicated to my father William George Dun and all other socialists who have passed this way.
So far as I know, my father was not much interested in politics at all until Bristol was heavily bombed and much damaged during WWII. That was when he became a socialist I think
So Adolf and his supporters probably enlarged world-wide a political class that his absurd dream was intended to eliminate.
I guess that Norman Le Brocq's Socialist political views were fermented during that same war too during the German Occupation of Jersey.
For may part, I seem to have inherited my father's political views but I am always curious to know how others became politically aligned - whether to the left or right or any other direction - and it is always especially odd when people maintain no interest in political matters at all.
Here I have recorded a discussion with two very different Jersey residents who are "Socialists." They explain how they formed their political views and how they confront the huge problems of today - especially that of "Capitalism.
The discussion was recorded in "Reg's Garden" in St Brelade. One day I hope he will overcome his shyness and be recorded too - but anybody wanting to know more about his delightful garden can email him on reg[@]reg-garden.com
It is open to the public free of charge most days.
Below is the discussion recorded on 13 September 2019. It is about 20 minutes.
The participants are Gabriel Carter and Nigel Jones
Anybody who wants to be recorded to express their view should contact me on this blog.
It is proposed to scrap the existing Jersey Complaints Board system dealing with allegation of maladministration by Jersey's governmental departments.
Since hardly anybody uses the process to complain and decisions cannot be enforced this might be a good idea but it is proposed to replace it with a "Jersey Public Services Ombudsman." This will have a wider remit.
This new scheme is currently open for consultation with the general public - but of course very few members of the public will show any interest - although they will complain if it proves defective.
This consultation presentation was video recorded on 10 September 2019 in St Helier.
The principal speaker here is Rebecca Young - the identity of the other is not known.
About 8 people occupied the public seating at this presentation. There were questions and some discussion took place.
The video is presented in two parts;
Part one below is about 12 minutes and will be far too long for most people to watch
Part two below is nearly 15 minutes so it is extremely unlikely that anybody will even attempt to watch it;
This is how government typically works in Jersey.
The public moans about almost everything and the "government" of 49 elected representative and an army of civil servants churn out endless reports and consultation papers and then either throw them into an enormous waste paper basket or converts them into laws and regulations.
When the public realises that they should have joined in with the consultation process - but that it is now too late - they moan again.
That's how democracy works.
Enjoy the show.
If this does not interest you do not worry because there will be something even more boring to consider soon and the government will be happy because this is how consultation works.
