Consultation Hub

We asked for views on a Bill to -

• enable the application of UK animal welfare legislation to the Island;
   
• the making of secondary legislation to support the implementation of the applied UK legislation; and
   
• to provide for greater protections for mountain hares.

We received 1,109 responses to the consultation, which were supportive of the Bill's purpose of applying UK animal welfare legislation.

However, the responses also indicated significant support for greater legal protections to be given to mountain hares than were provided for in the Bill.

A consultation summary, with respect to all responses submitted and actions taken by the Department as a consequence, has been published on the consultation page.

In light of the feedback from the consultation a revised Animal Welfare Bill was submitted for first and second reading in the House of Keys on Tuesday 27 April 2021.

The Department will also give further consideration to the policy issues identified by this consultation that did not form part of this Bill.

We asked for views on how the Resolution Authority’s administrative expenses should be calculated and how this amount should thereafter be recovered by means of a levy allocated to banks.

We received 8 separate responses to the Consultation Paper. Of these, none were against the proposed method of calculating the resolution administration expenses.

The Authority proposed that these expenses, for the year 2021-22, should be recovered through levies on an ‘equal share’ basis amongst the banks, early in the year 2022-23. Half of the respondents either had no comment or specifically agreed with this proposal. The remaining respondents had divergent views as to how the levy should be allocated. This included 3 banks, each with different business models, who believed their particular business model should pay a smaller share than banks operating different business models.
 

The Authority believes that resolution administration expenses will be incurred in relation to all banks, certainly for an initial period. It is intended therefore to proceed with recovery of these expenses by means of a levy calculated on an ‘equal share’ basis for the year 2021-22.    

However, if over time it becomes clear that there is a significant divergence between the degrees of ongoing administrative work required for the different types of bank operating on the Island, the Authority would be pleased to discuss this with the banking industry and to consider adapting the levy allocation methodology accordingly.

We asked for your views on Regulations that the Department of Infrastructure will be making which create an obligation to carry disabled passengers on designated wheelchairaccessible taxis and their assistance dogs on all taxis, subject to exemptions.

A total of 59 responses to the consultation were received, including 18 from taxi drivers and taxi operators.

The responses received suggested that wheelchair and assistance dogs users would be generally supportive of the introduction of Regulations. The consultation also identified a very clear need to consult further with the taxi industry, in particular regarding obligations to carry assistance dogs and training requirements.

All responses received during the consultation have been considered, and the Department will be engaging with the taxi trade further before drafting the Regulations, in order to ensure that the issues raised in the consultation are fully explored and considered.