Oh, don’t ask me! The States has a dress code – I think it’s basically “office smart”, interpret that as you want. I’m not sure if it’s written down anywhere. I’m not sure it matters. I didn’t try and get rid of it during my two years on SACC (which is the Committee most likely to be responsible for such things) because we had bigger fish to fry – mostly delivering the General Election – but I do think it’s fairly trivial and unnecessary.
There are certainly aspects of the dress code that need to go, as soon as possible. Most importantly, the ridiculous business of asking the Presiding Officer for permission – which may or may not be granted – before jackets can be removed. There are all sorts of reasons why a person may need to remove their jacket (hot flushes, illness, pregnancy, discomfort, disability…), none of which are the Presiding Officer’s business. Even leaving that aside, a roomful of adults – the government, no less – having to ask permission from “teacher” before they can take their jackets off is, well, ridiculous. Sorry I didn’t do anything about it last term. Please make it your business to knock it on the head.
