Charley Adams
BBC News Online

Islanders are being advised to not take their children trick or treating at Halloween due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Door-to-door visits are not being recommended by Public Health because it could be tricky to maintain 1m (3ft 3in) physical distancing and handing out sweets and touching doorbells could risk spreading the virus.

For people planning parties in Jersey, the States is reminding people that gatherings are limited to under 20 people and any indoor meeting is considered high risk.

The deputy medical officer of health, Dr Ivan Muscat said: “Although it is not thought that children are the main drivers of Covid, they can still spread the virus and face-to-face exposure with strangers, while trick or treating, poses more of a risk of spread to islanders."

Throughout October, the government will be sharing ideas on social media for anyone intending to mark Halloween this year.

Some of the alternative ideas include pumpkin carving and a scavenger hunt outside.

BBC Radio Jersey

People are more concerned about having access to mental health and support services since the coronavirus pandemic began, a survey has revealed.

This was the result from almost 70% of the people who answered the government run online survey.

The survey was created to find out what concerns islanders had and how ministers should respond to them ahead of making their four-year plan.

Of the 2,000 islanders who responded to the survey, more than 70% said that investing in a new hospital should be the government's priority.

BBC Radio Jersey

Engineers are investigating what has caused structural problems in the headquarters of the Salvation Army in St Helier.

The building on Minden Street has been closed because it could be unsafe.

This means the charity is unable to open some of its facilities and make money to support its community work.

It will continue outreach work, but Alice Nunn from the charity says the loss of facilities is a blow.

She says it has impacted room bookings that helps raise money for community work and the charity shop.

BBC Radio Jersey

The sand quarry in St Ouen's Bay should stop operating after 2023, says Jersey's environment minister.

Deputy John Young claims extracting more sand from the site could be unsafe and risk affecting the water table.

Jersey's National Trust is worried a potential buyer for the site could use it as landfill.

However, Dune Restoration which is in talks about a potential sale of the site, denies this.

It says it has proposed to restore the landscape to bring the area back to a habitat that would benefit wildlife.

Deputy Young says: "If it's a radical idea like landfill, there would have to be a planning enquiry".

BBC Radio Jersey

There are signs of recovery in the high street after problems caused by the coronavirus, says a Jersey business advisor.

Between March and September, almost 350 businesses stopped trading in Jersey, which is more than during the same period last year.

In 2019, fewer than 200 businesses in Jersey shut their doors.

Nick Steel, from Jersey Business, a group which provides advice and support to local businesses says there is some cause for optimism.

He said "confidence dropped" during lockdown, but it is slowly coming back.

BBC Radio Jersey

All new parents in Jersey could claim a parental allowance for up to eight months if the States agree a change to the island's benefit laws.

Currently, only new mothers are eligible for the financial support, which is given as a lump sum or spread over a period of up to four-and-a-half months.

Adoptive parents are eligible for a one-off grant.

However, the social security minister, deputy Judy Martin, wants all parents, including adoptive and surrogate parents, to be able to claim the allowance.

If the changes are approved at a vote next month, then the new benefits will be available to parents of children born or adopted after 1 January 2021.

BBC Radio Jersey

Image source, Musson and Retallick

Designs for a memorial to people who suffered in Jersey's Care System have been revealed.

Organisers are asking islanders to comment on the three designs and a citizens panel will make a final decision next month.

The memorial will be unveiled on Children's Day in 2022, says senator Sam Mezec, the children's minister.

The designs can also be viewed via a virtual tour on the state's website.

Image source, Studio Octopi and Layla May Arthur

Care leaver and citizens panel member Daren O'Toole said he had used the selection process as a "coping tool", applying his own experience to help others.

"I will be incredibly proud that I have been a part of what is probably the most important piece of public art that Jersey has commissioned ever."

Image source, David A Annand

BBC Radio Jersey

A bus service will be available for Jersey's new hospital, regardless of where it is built.

Kevin Hart, the director of Liberty Bus, is discussing providing a regular shuttle service to the hospital with the States.

He says there have been discussions on how frequent the buses will need to be and what costs will be involved.

BBC Radio Jersey

A Jersey nursing union has said hospital staff are having to cope with wards which are in desperate need of repair.

Kenny McNeil from the Royal College of Nursing said he has been calling for better facilities from the States for nearly a decade.

This week ministers revealed Overdale as their preferred site for a new hospital.

Mr McNeil said the process of finding a new site, and the delays to it, have been "frustrating".

"We have no interest in the politics, but for the people of this island and the delivery of care, we clearly need this facility and as I say it's well overdue now", he said.

A call to bring forward enforcing isolation for arrivals until a negative Covid test result is returned has failed to find enough support in the States of Jersey.

All passengers arriving in Jersey from next Tuesday will have to isolate until they receive a negative test result for Covid-19.

It coincides with test results being available within 12 hours from 13 October, using the on-island testing lab.

BBC Radio Jersey

Politicians in Jersey will make the decisions on who can sell alcohol in the island in future - instead of a body of the Royal Court.

At the moment, the Licensing Assembly is responsible for ruling on matters such as who can hold a licence - whether it's for a pub, club or restaurant - what establishments may do to promote sales.

The assembly, made up of unelected members of the court, meets four times a year.

There have been several attempts in recent years to remove control of the industry from the assembly and the States has agreed that it should take control of licensing decisions in two years' time.

Meanwhile, the head of the island's hospitality industry has expressed disappointment about a decision to allow drinks promotions such as "happy hours".

Jersey Hospitality Industry Chief Executive Simon Soar said such a move could destroy profits the industry needs to survive the rest of the year, especially following what he described as years of damaging duty rises.

BBC Radio Jersey

Jersey's States spent nearly £900,000 fixing a mistake made in 2017, where more than a 120 health and social workers were wrongly paid.

Chief Minister John Le Fondre, acting as chairman of the States Employment Board, said all the wrongly-graded roles had been re-evaluated.

The project has been supported by Civil Service workers' organisations which advised and supported members throughout the process - which they described as "positive".

Mr Le Fondre explained the overall cost of the project came to £892,200, which included the cost of job evaluations and pay protection.

BBC Radio Jersey

Jersey nurses have urged the States to make a final decision on the island's new hospital quickly, now that ministers have chosen Overdale as the preferred site.

Unions have been asking for better facilities for almost a decade and warned that islanders care will suffer if the existing building was not replaced soon.

Kenny MacNeil, from the Royal College of Nursing, said he was pleased the process was one step further to agreement, and wanted States members to take the final decision when it comes up for debate next month.

He said the argument over a site was less important than the need for a modern, fit-for-purpose hospital where Jersey people could be cared for properly.

The final decision will be put before the States Assembly on 17 November for approval.

The site is already home to an existing hospital, the smaller of the two on the island.

Image source, Jersey States

BBC Radio Jersey

Young people in Jersey are having to wait up to 13 weeks to get mental health support once they have been referred by their doctors.

Children's minister Senator Sam Mezec said the average waiting time before the Covid-19 lockdown was 11 weeks but a backlog of cases had built up due to the ban on face-to-face appointments earlier this year.

He said that, at the moment, 19 young people were waiting for an initial assessment, and 69 awaiting further treatment.

Senator Mezec said the island's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) was being redesigned, but systemic changes were not easy to implement, and it could take longer than anyone would like.

BBC Radio Jersey

A group of backbench politicians wants the States' department in charge of Jersey's foreign affairs to be more transparent.

The Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel said it was concerned some decisions made by the department were not subject to scrutiny by States members.

These include trade agreements and international conventions.

Deputy Kirsten Morel, who leads the panel, said he had discussed his concerns with the external relations minister, who has agreed that sharing more would strengthen the decision-making process.

BBC Radio Jersey

Bus users will be able to take more than one Jersey bus for the cost of a single ticket from January, following a decision in the States.

Liberty Bus currently offers transfer tickets - which allow passengers to get on a different bus to continue their journey. For example, anyone travelling from St Ouen's Bay to Gorey can do it for less than the price of two single fares.

But Deputy Montfort Tadier argued his fellow passengers should be able to travel from one stop on the bus network to another for the cost of a single ticket - even if they had to make a change.

BBC Radio Jersey

The constable of St Helier has welcomed ministers' intentions to build the island's new hospital at Overdale.

Constable Simon Crowcroft said it was a better choice than the People's Park, even though three people's homes would have to be lost to make way for it.

Ministers said they would have to buy up the properties to use the space.

Senator Lyndon Farnham said Overdale was picked because it was a more flexible location.

He said: "If we'd chosen the People's Park, and we wanted to expand, there was only go one way - and that would be up.

"Here we can go outwards, and we have a lot more flexibility around the design in the years ahead."

However, a former planning minister says the States have got the location of the new hospital wrong.

Deputy Steve Luce said Overdale was not right "from a planning framework perspective" and he did not believe Lyndon Farnham considered better options.

He said: "I'm appalled to hear that he is considering building car parks on green fields, and, most importantly, it's not the best site for the public to access. How can he therefore say that he considers it the most appropriate?"

The States will be asked to give formal approval for Overdale in a debate next month.

Freddie Miller
BBC Jersey political reporter

Drinks offers including happy hours could become available in Jersey bars, pubs and restaurants until the end of next year - if the island's Licensing Assembly agrees.

On Tuesday politicians approved the idea in a States sitting.

Members also agreed the States Assembly, rather than the Licensing Assembly, should be responsible for licensing policy decisions from 2022 onwards.

The proposals, from Deputy Lindsay Ash, were aimed at helping the hospitality industry, which has been hit by the coronavirus.

But the head of the Jersey Hospitality Association believes it will do nothing but reduce margins for struggling businesses, which will be forced to fight for customers.

Writing on Twitter, Simon Soar suggests it would have been more sensible for politicians to consider changes to alcohol duty instead.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Jersey's Adult Social Care and mental health services are to be integrated, Health and Community Services bosses have announced.

Managers said, external the change aimed to "give islanders greater access to routes of care, with single assessments and care plans, offering positive outcomes for patients".

The integration would "reduce the need to navigate between services, be more practical and provide a seamless service for people, preventing the need to go from one department to another, having a single assessment and care plan for each individual", according to associate managing director of Adult Social Care Isabel Watson, who is to help lead the combined service.

She added both specialties had been working collaboratively to keep people safe through the Covid pandemic.

Dr Miguel Garcia Alcaraz, who is also to help lead the combined service, added: "It is timely to introduce integration while a momentum of collaborative working continues."

The integrated group would also work closely with voluntary and third sector partners to ensure people have adequate access to support and care, bosses said.

BBC Radio Jersey

Just over half of Jersey taxpayers who responded to a survey agreed with plans to make everyone pay tax on their current earnings, instead of a year in arrears.

Most people are currently paying tax on what was earned in 2019.

The survey asked people what they thought of making the change, and how they thought it could be done.

Nearly 2,400 completed the survey, and 52% of those who responded supported the change, with 38% against.

There were mixed opinions about this - some people said the bill should be wiped out, others that the missing year could be paid off over five or 10 years.

States members said they would use the findings of the survey to help them decide how to vote in a discussion on the matter next month.