08/03/2017 Channel Islands News

Delay the new laws - a senior politician calls for time

on legislation affecting jobs and licences.

Good evening and welcome to the late news

from BBC Channel Islands, I'm Alison Moss.

the emergency services practice for disaster.

And we'll have the latest weather forecast.

One of Guernsey's top politicians is calling for a delay

to the island's controversial new population management law.

It's due to come into force on 3rd April.

But, after concern from the business community, Deputy Peter Ferbrache

says waiting may be necessary until Guernsey knows where it stands

It's taken six years to decide how to manage Guernsey's population.

A new law's due to come into force on 3rd April.

But not everyone's convinced it's the right thing to be doing.

The Chamber of Commerce and Confederation of

Guernsey Industry are urging politicians to delay

its introduction, until Guernsey is more certain of its place

And, one of the island's top politicians has said

I'm not saying it is absolutely my view,

I would like to discuss it with my colleagues.

We have then got to decide if we are going to, either some

of us or as a committee, say to the States on March 29th

can we delay it, or can you amend it, or whatever.

But the politician responsible for driving through the new law says

So many people have planned for April 3rd, thousands have

planned for that date, and a small minority who are quite

vocal at the moment, are quite detrimental against

But as I said before, there will always be people that

you can't please all of the time, that is the way it goes, really.

So I hope it will go through, but we will have to wait and see

The States is due to meet at the end of the month to sign off the law.

But, with so much concern from the business community,

it'll be a nervous wait for those behind the new regime.

They will face prosecution - the words of a Jersey politician

who has promised to ensure the new dog law will be enforced.

It comes after hundreds of people shared an image of a recent dog

Jersey's dog law was updated last year, so it's now an illegal offence

if a dog causes serious injury, but does it go far enough?

It's an image that caused shock and outrage among dog owners

in Jersey when it was posted on social media.

It's claimed these injuries were sustained during an unprovoked

attack by another dog on an island beach.

And it's not the only dog attack posted online recently.

This boxer needed seven visits to the vet, costing up

to ?1,000, when it was set upon outside its house.

The owners say they are still in a legal battle to claim the costs

Until recently, an offence was only committed under Jersey's Dog Law

if a dog worries livestock on agricultural land.

Now owners can face an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment of up

to ten years if their dog has caused death or serious injury.

The Minister says he will ensure the new law

It's not fair on the animals, and it's not fair on the owner

of the animals, and it's not fair on society.

I want it understood by people that aren't so responsible that

if they are not acting in a manner to protect their own dogs and other

dogs, if they have a dog that can be dangerous,

But experts say dog aggression can be caused by various

emotions, and this law won't address underlying issues.

We need to learn how to reduce future incidents and we can't do

that just by slapping fines and putting dogs on muzzles

and short leads - it doesn't tell you anything,

you're not learning anything from it.

So we need to learn more about these incidents so we can educate owners

and teach them what to look out for, and what we can do in

But, while moves have been made to try to protect dogs from other

dogs when they are out and about, it's the responsibility

of the owner to understand why their dog may attack,

and to spot the signs before it happens.

Carbon monoxide tests are being introduced

to help pregnant women in Jersey stop smoking.

Latest figures show one in six mums-to-be in Jersey smoke.

Carbon monoxide, produced by tobacco can reduce the amount

of oxygen the baby gets, affecting its development.

Midwives will offer the test to all pregnant women

We know that babies born to women who are smokers can be underweight,

or not so vigorous for coping with labour, and so it is important

that we help women in as nonjudgemental a way to give up

smoking in pregnancy, and indeed their partners as well

because passive smoking can also influence them.

Jersey's new police headquarters opened for business today.

After two and a half years of construction,

reception officially opened at 8am this morning.

The Green Street police station cost ?21 million,

?14million of which came from money which had been taken from criminals.

The organisers of the Channel Island's biggest emergency exercise,

which took place in St Helier today, say it was a success.

All of Jersey's emergency services were involved with 80 volunteers

playing passengers on board a ferry that had collided

It's all hands on deck as Jersey's emergency services deal

with the biggest incident they've ever faced.

First, the island's fire-fighters must contain a blaze that's broken

out on board a ferry, before local paramedics

can help the passengers who are seriously injured.

But these casualties are actors and this is just an exercise,

all designed to help the blue light teams prepare if the

Hopefully we never get an incident of the scale we have tested today,

but by doing this test we can have confidence in the individual plans

and that the individual agencies can all work together.

It is a five-day exercise, testing a range of emergency skills.

Yesterday, local fire crews practiced being lowered

onto a moving boat while the police were also involved this morning

as they helped passengers who were taken off the ferry.

I'm currently in the Survivor's Centre set up

You can see behind me a queue of passengers who all need to be

Officers were in charge of taking down all their information

before deciding if anyone needed further assistance.

Like 73-year-old Susan who'd suffered a blow to the head.

They're brilliant, they always are, they're so caring and they really

make you feel, although you know there's nothing wrong with you,

You have to think, right, I've got a bad head so I've got

to make sure everyone knows I've got a bad head.

Those in charge of the exercise say it all went to plan,

and they're confident that if a major catastrophe ever does

happen, the people we rely on the most will be ready for it.

Jessica Banham, BBC Channel Islands News, Jersey.

Disability and inclusion legislation in Guernsey

The States want to ensure equality for disabled people

in all aspects of island life, including fair access to jobs.

The politician responsible says the new laws are a priority,

but it could still be some time before they are in force.

Guernsey police are warning islanders to be vigilant

after reports of heating oil being stolen from homes.

Officers suspect individuals have been going into gardens

in the Castel area and taking oil from tanks.

They're urging people to be on the lookout for suspicious

behaviour and report it to the police or Crimestoppers.

Hello, good evening. We are a bit stuck at the moment, there isn't

much change in the weather type for the next two days will stop a lot of

Mr round tomorrow, still quite mild, and the risk of drizzle continues.

The mild air is coming from Spain and Portugal, across the Bay of

Biscay are heading up towards us. Not quite so windy tomorrow, and

that is a similar picture into Friday. That robe of cloud will stay

across us for much of tomorrow, eventually travelling further south

through the middle of tomorrow. It won't move away until Friday,

perhaps opening the door to brighter conditions, perhaps less misty, and

then these weather fronts queueing up to affect us at the weekend. This

cloud through the channel won't go too far at the moment, continuing to

produce some drizzle, risk south-west winds, quite strong for a

time, but they will gradually drop. A mild night, 10 degrees the

minimum. Tomorrow, drizzle of and on throughout the day. Not much chance

of any brightness, and still quite misty conditions. 12 degrees the top

temperature. The mild air easing in terms of the strength of wind, so it

will feel quite pleasant despite all the cloud and drizzle. Largely dried

by the end of the day. Fogg becoming a problem, especially for the

airports. A cold front on Saturday introduces fresher, cleaner air,

dropping the temperature through the weekend. Westerly winds and a few

showers. Have a good night.

That's all the news for this Wednesday night.

Until then, from me and the rest of the Channel Islands team,

outlook, staying mild and Nick has the bigger picture across the UK.

Hello. Spring is in the air with temperatures reaching 14 or 15 in a

few spots today as they will again over the next few days. Very

pleasant in the sun. The daffodils were loving that in York. More

places under blue sky tomorrow and dry. Tonight heavy showers moving

across Scotland on strong to gale force winds, some may clip Northern

Ireland. It's a mild night in southern England and South Wales but

damp and drizzly, misty with coastal and hill fog elsewhere. Temperatures

in between and dry: This damp weather hangs on from parts of the

Channel Islands, to Cornwall. Elsewhere, it's getting brighter in

South Wales and southern England. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland

some sunny spells around from the word go. The further north there is

a stronger wind initially. Showers to begin with in northern