In December, Chief Minister Ian Gorst unveiled a new migration policy in an effort to slow the increase in the Island’s population, although no formal proposition has yet been lodged for debate by the States.
Any debate on an updated population policy will not be debated until after May’s general election.
The proposals include plans to run criminal-background checks on people coming to the Island and to introduce a work permit system for low-skilled and low-paid immigrant workers. Under the system, firms would be granted permits to employ seasonal or temporary workers for up to ten months and permits for up to four years would also be available if the work was year-round.
The Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel has already begun an initial review of the policy, but were expecting to be able to run a more comprehensive review once the formal proposition was lodged. As this has not yet happened, the panel have said they will conduct a preliminary review to assist the post-election Scrutiny panel.
Deputy John Le Fondré, chairman of the panel, said: ‘Ensuring any growth in Jersey’s population is sustainable in the long term remains a key area of concern for both the Assembly and the public.
‘There has been a significant amount of public interest and media attention in relation to the proposals published by the Chief Minister in December.
‘We were expecting that the Chief Minister would bring forward a proposition to address this important issue before the election. In the absence of a final policy being put to the States for debate, our review will be in the form of a high-level assessment of the Chief Minister’s proposed migration strategy.
‘We intend to publish our initial observations on the policy to assist future, more detailed scrutiny when the policy is lodged for debate.’
