The official website for the States of Alderney

States Meeting Information

The States of Alderney meet every month, except in February and August, to discuss and debate reports, draft legislation and other matters. The meetings are held in the Island Court. They are convened by the President and the Alderney Greffier is the clerk. Information relating to past and forthcoming State Meetings can be accessed via this page.

The items for discussion at a meeting are contained in a publication called a Billet d'État. Prior to every States Meeting, a public People's Meeting is held for the purpose of informing those present of the business to be transacted at the States meeting and to give any explanation where an explanation is requested. 

Information about the Rules of Procedure for States' Meetings can be found the via the downloads section on this page. 

  • Billet d'État

    • The Billet d'Etat is prepared by the President's office. It is an official document which lays out the business to be discussed at the States Meeting. Each item for discussion has a proposition which is voted on by the States Members and a resolution is made. Occasionally, items are included on the Billet d'Etat for debate without resolution and in this case the debate is aired in the States Chamber but there is no proposition and no resolution.

    • Submissions for a Billet d'Etat must come from the Chairman of one of three Committees, Policy & Finance Committee, General Services Committee, Building and Development Control Committee.  A submission can also be made by the President.  Each item submitted for debate has been discussed in advance in the appropriate committee. The item is then brought to the States Meeting for debate and for a vote by all States Members.  The exception to this is a Requête which can be submitted in order to bring something up for discussion which has not been through the committee system. A Requête must be signed by four members

    • In addition, questions may be submitted by any member for the Chairman of a Committee or to the Alderney Representatives on Guernsey States of Deliberation, for response by verbal or written reply.  Questions must be submitted in writing at least 7 days prior to the meeting for verbal reply and at least 14 days prior to the meeting for written reply.

    • Reports may be included on the Billet d'Etat, submitted by a Committee Chairman, Vice-Chairman or a Member with a designated area of responsibility, for the purpose of informing the States of the progress of a project or as an introduction to a project which may require future consideration.

    • Billet d'Etats are published not later than the eighth day before the meeting. A States Meeting is usually held on Wednesdays, which means that the Billet d'Etat for that meeting is published on the Friday a week prior (eg., The Billet d'Etat for States Meeting on Wed 14 October, would be published on Friday 2 October). The President also has discretion to publish a '3 Day Billet' for an urgent matter which requires a decision of the States, and this Billet must be published not later than the fourth day before the meeting.

    • The Rules which apply to States Meetings and the production of Billet d'Etats are known as 'The States of Alderney Rules of Procedure' found in the download section of this page.

    • Past and present Billet d'Etats can be accessed  here. They are also available to the public for purchase from the General Office and available for viewing at the Alderney Library.

  • Peoples Meeting 

    • Prior to a States Meeting a public 'People's Meeting' is held for the purpose of informing those present of the business to be transacted at that meeting of the States and give any States of Alderney explanation required; additionally, individual electors have the opportunity to address the States directly on matters of public interest in an 'Open Forum'. Only a member of the electorate may speak at a people's meeting. 

    • For more information, please refer to pdf icon Rules for People’s Meetings [404kb]

    • Open Forum
      The Open Forum aims to provide a more informal session where the States Members are able to answer more general questions from the public attending. This part of a Peoples Meeting is not attended by the senior Civil Service. A convenor is selected from among the States Members and discussion will commence based on questions which members of the public have submitted in advance to the Chief Executive's office. It is not a platform for campaigning.

    • Questions from members of the public have to be submitted to the Chief Executive's office by noon on the Friday preceding the People's Meeting.

    • Further guidelines for the Open Forum can be found in pdf icon Guidelines to Public Engagement at a Peoples Meeting Open Forum [225kb]

  • States Meeting

    • The relevant papers for the next States' Meeting can be accessed here. This page contains the agenda for the meeting, the combined PDF of the Billet d'État.

    • The decisions of the States each day ('Resolutions') are published in here and the Official Report ('Hansard') are uploaded once completed here.

  • States Resolutions: Decisions of the States

    • After each day of a States' Meeting, a document setting out the decisions of the States that day is produced and published - the States' Resolutions (Deliberations). This is published in the States' Deliberation index here.

  • Hansard: (the official record of States' Meetings)

    • After a meeting is concluded, a 'Hansard' i.e. the official report of the proceedings of the States' Meeting is produced. This is a near verbatim report of the entire proceedings and is produced for each day (usually within a month of the meeting). This is published in the Hansard download index.

  • Rules of Procedure of States Meetings

    • These are the rules which govern how States Meetings are run and can be read at the following link pdf icon Rules of Procedure [339kb] or via the download section of this page.

  • LIVE: States Meetings