Deputy Lee Carpenter - St. Helier Central

30/07/2026

20% of all bus journeys last year were made using the concessionary pass for under 18’s. That’s 1.16 million journeys.

Robert Ward deserves huge credit for this. It was his successful amendment to the government plan back in 2021 that made bus travel more affordable for young people.

Every person using public transport is potentially a vehicle off our roads. We need to push forward on the back of this significant progress and ensure bus travel is as affordable, accessible and frequent as possible.

It’s also quite interesting to look back at who voted against this proposition that remain in the assembly.

Our Chief Minister Senator Farnham, Senator Gorst, Deputy Morel as well as Constables David Johnson of St Mary and Marcus Troy of St. Clement. I really hope the success of this initiative demonstrates to them, and all our Assembly colleagues, that as we move forward we need to continue to support schemes like this.

28/07/2026

Lyndsay is of course spot on.

It is beyond depressing that this kind of nonsense still gets printed in our islands only newspaper. Those of us who spend our time here in reality know that the minimum wage needs to be increased to a living wage.

Food bank use has doubled since 2022. 82% of lower income, private rental households are in rental stress. The only way we’re going to reverse these trends is by reducing inequality.

All that would happen if we removed the minimum wage is the exact opposite. More of us would struggle. More of us would need food banks. More of us would need financial assistance paid for by the taxpayer.

We need a living wage, and urgently.

23/07/2026

Denise Stephenson is fast becoming one of my favourite contributors to local political discourse as she's written another fantastic letter in today's JEP.

She sums things up perfectly:

"Jersey’s housing crisis is not bad luck or market forces. It is the predictable result of decades of political cowardice and a willingness to put property speculation ahead of the next generation."

22/07/2026

Another really good article from Colin Lever in the JEP.

71% of social renters and 82% of private renters are in rental stress.

This is clearly unsustainable. For far too long our housing market has been used as a vehicle for profiteering. This has to change.

As Denise Stephenson wrote in her recent JEP article, our housing policy should exist to house islanders. Not to guarantee returns on investments.

22/07/2026

Yesterday, the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel met for the first time.

Chair of the Panel, Deputy Beatriz Porée, alongside Vice Chair Deputy Lee Carpenter and Deputies Gabriel Raimondo and Chris Leck, met to discuss their priorities in the coming months.

The Panel will be scrutinising the work of the Minister for Health and Social Services and the Minister for Social Security, establishing areas of interest in adult mental health services, the Jersey Pension Saver, the Women's Health Strategy and the Long-Term Care Fund.

In addition, the Panel will be revisiting the recommendations of the Family Friendly Legislation Review and seeking updates on the work of the recently established Health and Care Partnership Board.

21/07/2026

The Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel met for the first time today, to discuss their priorities over the next few months.

The Panel, led by Chair, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham, with Vice Chair Deputy Lee Carpenter and members: Deputies Hilary Jeune, Chris Leck and Chris Rebindaine, will be scrutinising the work of the Chief Minister and Treasury Minister.

The upcoming Budget 2027, will be one of the main focuses this year, along with the new Council of Ministers' Common Strategic Policy priorities.

In addition, the Panel will be seeking an update on Government work around Arm's Length Organisations, procurement and the Multinational Corporate Income Tax, Pillar Two. Deputy Lee Carpenter - St. Helier Central Deputy Lyndsay Feltham - Reform Jersey Hilary Jeune

14/07/2026

The response to my question here is actually quite telling.

The Treasury deemed "the most appropriate" assessment of the impact of removing GST to be to calculate the saving made per income quintile as a percentage of the total save.

In laymans terms, the analysis they chose to provide will always show you that in absolute terms, those who spend more will save more. Which is obvious and tells us absolutely nothing.

If they wanted to provide a more considered and appropriate analysis, they would have also calculated the percentage of income saved, which would tell us much more about how removing GST would actually benefit those on different incomes.

It seems I'll need to do this analysis myself!

REMOVING GST from food would cost the public purse an estimated £14 million a year, according to the new Treasury Minister – who warned the biggest financial benefit would go to the Island’s highest-income households. Senator Alan Maclean released the figures in response to a written question f...

13/07/2026

ALLOWING young Islanders to take the first year of their States pension as a lump sum to assist with housing deposits is being considered by ministers as a measure to help people take their first steps on the property ladder. A Citizens Advance policy proposal is being discussed in the UK which coul...

13/07/2026

Spot on from Denise Stephenson here in today's JEP: Our housing policy should exist to house islanders.

Her article also speaks to why the Chief Minister's decision to separate Planning from the Environment portfolio is potentially so dangerous. New builds in St. Helier in particular must have appropriate parking provision and sufficient outdoor space. The Chief Minister's candidate for Planning Minister, Senator Boleat, has already suggested he wants to look at reducing minimum apartment sizes. The Assembly must resist any attempts to reduce quality of life for islanders.