The Policy & Resources Committee won a vote to move the sitting from Wednesday 24 to Thursday 25 September to avoid two of its members missing States business while attending external relations meetings.
The election of a new member of P&R was due to be held on 24 September, when committee president Lindsay de Sausmarez and external relations lead Steve Falla will be meeting politicians and officials from Normandy.
Sasha Kazantseva-Miller was unhappy with the senior committee’s approach and unsuccessfully appealed to the Assembly to block it.
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‘We will have many other cases where members are not able to attend the Assembly and I think it is very bad practice to make alternative arrangements just because of the absence of a couple of members,’ she said.
‘As a committee of five, P&R could make arrangements for someone else to present the election on the day.
‘I think this is a really bad precedent for the future.
'It really sends the wrong message.’
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller said she had also been invited to the meetings with French counterparts but her committee, Economic Development, had made alternative arrangements to allow her to be present in the Assembly.
She reminded the Assembly that the dates of its meetings had been agreed some time ago for the whole of the political term.
Tina Bury urged the States to support P&R while it was trying to pick up the pieces following the sudden resignation of its former external relations lead, Jonathan Le Tocq, who is on remand awaiting trial.
‘The situation is unprecedented – we all know that.
'What is happening right now is difficult,’ said Deputy Bury.
‘I can imagine that this summit which Deputy de Sausmarez is attending is very important right now because we have just lost the person who would usually have attended those meetings.’
She said she would normally want States meetings to be prioritised, but on this occasion the urgent need for senior members to build relationships with other jurisdictions had to take priority.
Deputy de Sausmarez said her committee was putting forward a pragmatic response to an unforeseen diary clash of two important events – the meeting with the French and the election of a new P&R member.
‘It is a summit between the Channel Islands and neighbouring regions of France,’ she said.
‘We are there to renew and sign a memorandum of understanding with those neighbouring regions. It is the discussions which will also take place at that summit which are essential.
‘They relate to fisheries, energy policy, including offshore wind, trade and sea links, and that kind of thing.
‘I stress that being in the very early days of the Brittany Ferries contract and needing to strengthen and consolidate some of those commercial agreements, it is essential that we have senior political representation at that summit.’
Deputy de Sausmarez asked the Assembly to bear in mind that she had never previously missed a vote in the chamber, let alone a whole day.
The States agreed to defer the meeting date with just four members voting against – Deputies Kazantseva-Miller, Neil Inder, Andy Sloan and Lee Van Katwyk – and seven members abstaining or not voting.
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