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The eleventh annual Youth Assembly took place on Wednesday 19 March 2008 and saw 52 Jersey sixth formers debate issues of the day.

It was the first Youth Assembly where everyone taking part has the right to vote at the next election in the island.

The young politicians were joined in the Chamber by Senator Len Norman who is playing the role of Bailiff and presiding over the event, and Senator Frank Walker who took questions without notice as part of question time.

The main point of the event is to give the student representatives an opportunity to learn more about how Jersey's unique form of government and how it works.

Each school chose a debate topic which was interesting and relevant to them, and also asked questions of some of the current ministers.

Questions to Ministers

The youth members put questions to Senator Le Sueur, Deputy de Faye, Senator Ozouf, to name but three. Senator Walker was also there and had to answer questions without notice.

As it is supposed to mirror a States sitting, there will be fifty three students from the Jersey College for Girls, Beaulieu, De La Salle, Hautlieu and Victoria College.

The questions the students asked the Ministers included the following question of the Minister for Treasury and Resources:

They also asked some interesting and imaginative questions, such as the one for the Minister for Planning and Environment:

"Would the Minister support the introduction in Jersey of the policy adopted in Bermuda to limit the ownership of cars, apart from those used for commercial purposes, to one per household?"

Debates

Some of the debates included asking whether the fines people get should meet the economic cost of the crime, and whether the entitlement to benefits should be dependent on the completion of community service.

Others included a call for Home Economics to be a mandatory subject for all female secondary students, and that every three years students should be given the chance to run the Island for a month.

Questions

The students taking part in the Youth Assembly also had the opportunity to put a number of pre-prepared questions to Ministers and questions without notice to the Chief Minister.

The pre-prepared questions included a question on surveys about the Skatepark and a question on music in schools for the Education Minister, a question on the cost of GST for the Treasury Minister and a question on seatbelts for the Transport Minister.

Some of the questions put to the Chief Minister, Senator Frank Walker, included a point about Facebook groups, a question on the EU restriction for Jersey born people and what plans there are for reducing carbon emissions in the island.