Deputies to benefit from better work facilities

Wednesday 03 November 2021

Two basement rooms at Sir Charles Frossard House have been reconfigured to provide deputies with somewhere private to meet members of the public as well as work from a desk.

There was previously a members' room at Sir Charles Frossard House. It was essentially a meeting room without desk space, additional screens or computer ports and it was rarely well used. Traditionally, politicians have worked from home. And they have no work space at the Royal Court, where the States' Assembly meets.

It is hoped that the improvements to the former members' room will provide deputies with usable work space when they are at Sir Charles Frossard House and support those who cannot or do not wish to work from home.

“We’ve had feedback from members that they don’t really have the right facilities to support them around their work,” said the States' Strategic Lead for Supporting Government, Colette Falla.

“Deputies can now plug in their laptops to the network and utilise some additional screens. It’s now much easier for them, compared to just working off a laptop, which they had to do before.”

When meeting members of the public in need of assistance or advice, deputies have often used coffee shops, their own homes or the homes of their 'constituents'. But they now have a safe meeting space for this work which can be booked in advance. 

“Some people may not want to be seen meeting a deputy in a public place and obviously there are potential risks if deputies meet people in their homes, so this just provides another possibility for them to have a private meeting space,” said Mrs Falla.

The use of the room will be monitored to see how well it is used.

Pictured: The President of the States' Assembly and Constitution Committee, Deputy Carl Meerveld, recently outlined several other measures being taken to support deputies in their work. 

Meanwhile, the States' Assembly and Constitution Committee has decided that the publication of deputies’ home addresses should be voluntary instead of expected, as it is at present. 

SACC’s Principal Officer confirmed that the Committee consulted members to get their views on the publication of their home addresses. Of those who replied, 19 said they were happy for their home address to be published online and in the 'red book' (the Assembly's directory of members and rules) and 12 said they would rather not publicise their home address. 

Once this change comes into effect, deputies who do not want their home addresses to be published will instead use Sir Charles Frossard House as their public address.