“I WOULD love to continue as Children’s Minister,” said St Peter Constable Richard Vibert, confirming his intention to stand in next year’s election.
“We have to wait and see who will be the next Chief Minister, who will form the next government – and I might find that that’s not possible – but what I would like is to come back to the same position.”
Indeed, there are a number of items on Mr Vibert’s agenda that are likely to require a ministerial focus long after Islanders cast their votes in June next year.
One such area is the recently released Youth Justice Roadmap, intended to help keep children away from crime – with a focus on prevention, early intervention and rehabilitation.
The document, which outlines the government’s intended “children-first” approach to youth justice, was published just over a month after the JEP revealed that children were being held at La Moye prison.
At the time, Mr Vibert and Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat said that a “suitable” part of the prison had been designated as a young-offenders institution under Article 27 of the Prison (Jersey) law 1957, “in order to meet young people’s needs at this time”.
But the newly published strategy, which outlines a number of actions to enable a “restorative” youth justice system, states that: “We will consider the removal of provision within law that children can be remanded in custody at the States of Jersey Prison (La Moye).”
However, Mr Vibert noted that there were “a very minute percentage of cases where safety is paramount”.
“In those cases, I believe having a provision at La Moye – although in a separate area – is something that I would not want to lose,” he continued.
“There are just those instances where there is a safety aspect and a young offenders institute-type arrangement is probably essential in those cases.”
But for certain situations – such as when a child is remanded in custody overnight – Mr Vibert said that the government was looking at an option for non-secure accommodation that is currently utilised in the UK.
“What that entails is having, usually, a specialist foster carer and that is their job – to be available for those very small number of occasions where a child isn’t bailed, but you don’t want to put them into secure accommodation or the police cells,” he explained.
“We’re talking of probably a two-bedroom property, where the foster carer can go and the child can go while they’re remanded, and that would probably be for 24 hours or so, until they appear in court.
“You can imagine a child being quite traumatised by the whole experience, so that’s why you need a specialist foster carer who’s available for those instances.”
The key actions outlined within the Youth Justice Roadmap include plans to “consult on raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 in Jersey, with subsequent consideration to increase it to 14 in the future”.
“It’s something that we are looking at,” Mr Vibert said.
“You wouldn’t want to jump immediately from ten to 14, but I think an interim step of 12 would be my option. You could then establish to see how that’s working and then look towards [raising the age to] 14 at a later date, but I’m certainly in favour of increasing the age of criminal responsibility.”
Another area of focus will probably be the outcome of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel’s review of how the Island protects children from potential harm caused by online platforms and digital content.
Mr Vibert said that Jersey should “look with interest” at Australia, where legislation banning under-16s from using social media was approved towards the end of last year.
“Not necessarily the total ban, but the software that they’re working on currently – which should be launched in December – where from a face they can predict the age of a person,” he continued.
“If that can be developed for Australia by the big companies, then there seems no reason why they shouldn’t roll that out to the rest of the world. That would enable restrictions on social media.”
Mr Vibert said he was “not sure that a total ban is the correct way to go”, but that he “would like to see” age-related restrictions on social media use.
“We’ve got to consider the wellbeing of children – we already have record numbers of children being assessed for mental-health [problems] and for autism and
for ADHD. And the problem is, once a young person has seen something, you can’t undo it. The damage is done, if it’s something particularly horrific,” he explained.
And there are a number of large-scale issues that will require collaboration between many ministers, if not the whole government.
New statistics showing the Island’s plummeting birth rate were published earlier this week.
The latest Births and Breastfeeding Report showed that there were 720 births to Jersey resident mothers recorded in 2024 – the lowest number in data held since 1995.
The Chamber of Commerce has raised concerns over the figures, stating that Jersey was becoming “a smaller, older island”, which has “implications for every sector of our community and economy”.
“The whole issue of the birth rate is quite complex,” Mr Vibert noted.
“It’s not just one issue – there are a lot of aspects here. You’ve got accommodation, the cost of living, you’ve got people leaving the Island. You may well have less people coming into the Island.
“It’s concerning in that, because of the economy of the Island, a shrinking population isn’t good.
“But we must also think that, if we can encourage people to come into the Island job-wise, it could change relatively quickly. In the short term, it’s a case of observing, doing things like encouraging more people to come in seeking jobs; it could turn things around.”
Part of the issue, as noted by Policy Centre Jersey senior adviser Sir Mark Boleat, was the cost of housing in the Island.
Earlier this week, States Members voted to delay a decision on the principles of plans for a major overhaul of Jersey’s Residential Tenancy Law, referring the matter for further scrutiny ahead of the next sitting in September.
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham had described the proposed legislation as a chance to send “a clear, unequivocal message to every family in Jersey that your children matter. Their futures matter and their homes matter.”
Mr Vibert, who had indicated during the debate that he would not be voting in favour of the principles, explained that: “I’m not opposed to change and I fully understand the impact on children.
“What I wanted to see was the detail that Scrutiny can provide, if they’re given the extra few weeks to complete their job.
“It’s all very well saying you’re only voting on the principles, but if the indications
of what you’re seeing say to you I don’t necessarily think this is the best way of
achieving this, then let’s get the detail and let’s go back.
“Because I don’t think I’m the only one who, with the extra detail, might well change their vote on the next occasion.”
