The work of elected members is divided into a number of areas:
Constituency Work
All members work directly with members of their electoral district to help them resolve any problems. This work is varied and involves participation in Parish meetings, Roads Committees and other parish business.
Their work can involve helping constituents directly such as making sure that they get the correct social security benefits, or resolving a planning dispute, for example. Members receive many phone calls and emails from constituents on a daily basis.
States Sittings
The States Assembly meets fortnightly on average, with breaks at Christmas, Easter and during the summer.
Each States meeting starts at 9.30 a.m. and usually finishes at 5.30 pm but can last for as long as it takes to finish the debates on public business. Meetings usually last about 2 days, but can take up to 4 days. You can watch webcasts of States meetings on statesassembly.gov.je
Members need to read and research the main issues to be debated so that they can participate in the discussions and bring amendments if their constituents would be disadvantaged by any proposals, or where their constituents have expressed strong views.
Ministers, Committees and Scrutiny Panels
Many members are appointed to a particular role, either Minister, Assistant Minister, or Chairman/member of the Public Accounts Committee, Planning Applications Panel, Scrutiny Panel, or Privileges and Procedures Committee, for example. This involves participating in meetings, making decisions on policy, scrutinising policy and improving procedures.
States members’ telephone numbers are found in the front of the telephone directory, and full contact details are listed on www.statesassembly.gov.je. The public can contact any of the States Members for help.
