---
title: "24 amendments and a whistleblowing row await States Members"
url: https://www.nsfw.info/states-assembly-csp-debate-whistleblowing-amendments/
published: 2026-11-09T09:00:55+00:00
modified: 2026-11-09T09:00:55+00:00
author: "Chief Editor"
categories: ["Government"]
image: https://www.nsfw.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/states-assembly-csp-debate-whistleblowing-amendments-1024x572.webp
summary: "Jersey's States Assembly debates the Council of Ministers' four-year strategic priorities this week, with 24 amendments tabled and a row over whistleblowing law"
publisher: NSFW (https://www.nsfw.info)
---

# 24 amendments and a whistleblowing row await States Members

**In brief:** The States Assembly returns this week to debate the Council of Ministers’ Common Strategic Policies, which will set the government’s direction until the 2030 election. Twenty-four amendments are on the table, and a separate proposition pressing for faster whistleblowing legislation is also set to spark debate.

## Four Pillars, Plenty of Opinions

Starting Tuesday, Members of the States Assembly will turn their attention to the Common Strategic Policies published by the Council of Ministers, the document intended to guide Jersey’s government through the next four years. The Jersey Evening Post reports that the CSP is built around four “pillars” drawn from Islanders’ feedback during this year’s election campaign: targeted action on the cost of living; restoring Jersey’s competitiveness; investment in homes and infrastructure; and maintaining financial stability.

On paper, it sounds like a sensible enough framework. In practice, the Assembly will have plenty to say about it. A total of 24 amendments will be considered during the debate, of which nine have themselves been amended further. Whether the Council of Ministers emerges with its vision intact or somewhat redecorated by the chamber remains to be seen.

The CSP debate sets the stage for the 2027 Budget debate, which is scheduled to form the central part of the following Assembly meeting in the second week of December. Islanders watching their bills and their savings will be paying close attention to both.

## Whistleblowing: Still Waiting

One of the more pointed items on this week’s agenda is a proposition lodged by Deputy Alves calling on ministers to move more quickly towards introducing whistleblowing legislation. The principle of such a law was first raised by Deputy Alves back in July 2023, and she has expressed disappointment that the matter has not been given sufficient priority by ministers. Her proposition calls for draft legislation to be lodged by 31 January next year.

The Council of Ministers has responded with its own amendment, which, if supported by Members, would push the deadline back by a full 12 months to 31 January 2028. That is, in other words, more than four and a half years after the issue was first raised. Whistleblowing protections exist to give employees and public servants the confidence to report wrongdoing without fear of reprisal. The pace at which this government is moving on the matter will not go unnoticed by those who believe accountability should be more than a talking point.

## Sea Walls, Oral Questions and a Code of Conduct Matter

Infrastructure Minister Jonathan Renouf will make a statement and face questions regarding a report by the States Complaints Board, which upheld an Islander’s complaint over maintenance of the sea wall at Grève d’Azette. It is a reminder that the mundane but essential business of maintaining Jersey’s coastal infrastructure matters deeply to residents who live alongside it.

Nineteen oral questions are scheduled, covering a notably broad range of concerns: assisted home ownership, residential and nursing home capacity, waiting times for neurology patients, funding for the Jersey Care Commission, and the States grant to the Social Security Fund. The breadth of those questions reflects the breadth of anxieties among Islanders right now.

There is also a notable political subplot. Deputy Renouf will ask Deputy Alves, in her capacity as chair of the Privileges and Procedures Committee, about the committee’s decision not to publish a full report regarding a breach of the code of conduct by former Deputy Philip Ozouf. Transparency in how politicians are held to account is itself a matter of public interest, and Members will be watching how that exchange unfolds.

Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham will face questions without notice alongside Senator Elaine Millar, the Social Security Minister, and Deputy Gerald Voisin, the Economic Development Minister.

## The NSFW Perspective

Twenty-four amendments to a document meant to express a clear, election-tested vision is quite the editorial process. One might wonder whether the Council of Ministers’ four pillars will still be recognisable by the time the Assembly has finished with them, or whether they will have been so thoroughly renovated as to resemble something assembled by committee, which, of course, they will have been.

The whistleblowing saga is perhaps the more telling story. When a government’s instinct, on a matter of basic accountability, is to ask for another year, it does invite the question of what exactly has been happening since July 2023. Deputy Alves deserves credit for keeping the pressure on. Whether the Assembly agrees with her deadline or the ministers’ more leisurely timetable will say something about where priorities truly lie, whatever the CSP document claims.

*Source: [Jersey Evening Post](https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2026/11/09/priorities-under-the-spotlight-as-members-return-to-states-assembly)*