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STATES OF JERSEY
STATES GREFFE BUSINESS PLAN 2018
Presented to the States on 21st March 2018 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee
STATES GREFFE
2018 R.31
REPORT
The Privileges and Procedures Committee is presenting to the Assembly the States Greffe Business Plan for 2018 (see Appendix), which has been drawn up by the Greffier of the States and endorsed by the Committee at its meeting on 13th March 2018.
APPENDIX
States Greffe Business Plan 2018
Introduction
This is the first States Greffe business plan. It sets out what we do; our specific aims for 2018; our thinking at this stage about our future plans; how the States of Jersey's values apply to us; the risks we face; and the resources at our disposal.
The plan is intended to provide greater clarity for the Public, States Members, and States staff, about our role and our objectives. It was approved by the Privileges and Procedures Committee in March 2018. Subject to the Committee's agreement, the 2019 business plan will be published at the beginning of next year. Our aim will be to publish a business plan for the year ahead each January and an annual report on the previous year's activities each Spring.
What is the States Greffe for?
The purpose of the States Greffe is to support parliamentary democracy in Jersey. We do this by –
- supporting the work of the States Assembly and its Committees and Scrutiny Panels (we also provide a secretariat to a number of States bodies, including the Council of Ministers, the States Employment Board and the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission)
- supporting all Members of the Assembly in discharging their parliamentary duties
- informing and educating the Public about the work of the Assembly and elections to the Assembly.
What do we want to achieve in 2018?
The core business of the Greffe involves supporting the work of the Assembly and its panels and committees. There is a regular cycle of meetings of all these bodies, for which documents must be assembled or prepared, distributed, published and archived; and following meetings, there will often be actions arising which Greffe staff must implement. Sittings of the Assembly are supported by staff from across the Greffe – including by producing and distributing the documents which are debated, assisting with the production of the transcript of the meeting ("Hansard") and operating the camera equipment for webcasting.
In addition, we will continue to organise the programme of weekly term-time visits to the States Chamber by schoolchildren in Year 5. We also organise the annual Youth Assembly, in which students from the Island's post-16 schools and college debate topics they propose, and we support the annual Rotary Club peace' debate.
The Greffe also supports a wide range of international activity, including meetings of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the annual commemoration of Commonwealth Day, the Commonwealth Youth Parliament, the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie, and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
Our aim is to undertake all of this work to a high standard, maintaining and enhancing our reputation for professionalism, integrity and delivery, to the often challenging timescales demanded by the political process.
In addition, in 2018 we have the following objectives –
- We will promote participation in the 2018 election, helping prospective candidates understand what is involved in running for election and in becoming a States Member, and encouraging people to register to vote and to cast their ballot. The vote.je website will be our main way of communicating information about the election, but we will also send every household authoritative information about who is standing for election and candidate manifestos. We will work with people in minority communities (particularly the Portuguese and Polish communities) to ensure that they are well-informed about the election and to encourage them to vote. We will also work with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (UK branch) who are sending an election observation mission to the Island.
- We will work with the Comité des Connétable s to introduce an online method of registering to vote which we will encourage people to use in the run-up to the election. We will continue to work with the Comité and the e-gov programme on the introduction of automatic electoral registration.
- We will run a comprehensive programme of induction for new Members, to ensure that they can fully contribute as States Members from the start of their term of office.
- We will continue, working with the States Information Services Department, to redesign the States Assembly and Scrutiny website so that it is better integrated, more customer-friendly, and capable of publishing news stories about the Assembly and its committees and panels. We aim to launch the redesigned website in the summer and we will plan for further enhancements after that.
- A redesigned website will enable us to improve our communications with the Public, particularly using social media.
- We will also publish an online guide to how the Assembly works, which will help demystify the Assembly's procedures and explain parliamentary jargon.
- We will introduce an e-petitioning facility, so that the Public can use e-mail to petition the Assembly.
- We will webcast public meetings of panels and committees, beginning after the election.
- We will work with our transcription services provider to introduce a new template for the production of Hansard, which will enable us to publish Hansard in a more accessible format and to make its contents more easily searchable.
- We will also move to a digital first' format for Scrutiny Reports, including by incorporating infographics and video where appropriate.
- The Privileges and Procedures Committee is currently considering reforms to the Assembly's procedures for legislative scrutiny and, if they are agreed to, we will implement them successfully and train Members to understand and utilise the new arrangements.
- We will work with Bailiff 's Chambers to consider improvements to the security of the States Building and aim at the same time to improve public accessibility.
- We hosted the Commonwealth Youth Parliament in February 2018 and will host a conference of parliamentary researchers from across the British Isles in the autumn.
- We will ensure that we are compliant with new data protection legislation and will assist other non-ministerial departments in achieving compliance.
The Greffier of the States has recently taken on line management responsibility for the Law Draftsman, and they will work together during 2018 to assess ways in which the Greffe and the Law Draftsman's Office can work more closely together, particularly in terms of making better use of new technology.
The incoming Chief Executive of the States has indicated that he would support improved resource provision for States Members, and we will work with him and the Privileges and Procedures Committee to scope and deliver such improvements.
Our work responds directly to the needs and requirements of States Members, and we will be flexible and, if necessary, take on additional projects as the year goes on, reprioritising existing work accordingly.
Looking ahead
We are beginning work on a number of initiatives which we expect will come to fruition in 2019 or later. These include –
- Events to commemorate the centenary of some women being entitled to vote in Jersey, in 2019, including hosting the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Regional Conference.
- Introducing automatic electoral registration of everyone in the Island entitled to vote, for which new software and legislative change are required.
- Considering how digital ID could be used to support online voting at the 2022 election.
- Planning for the expiry of the current webcasting contract in 2020 and how webcasts could be linked to other output, such as Hansard.
- Further development of the website, including new processes for submitting, editing and publishing Assembly questions and propositions electronically, and publishing more Assembly data as open data.
- Responding to the planned refurbishment of Morier House.
How do we want to achieve our objectives?
The values of the States of Jersey are integral to the way we work. These are –
- Customer focus: we aim to provide timely, relevant, and professional information, advice and support to States Members and the people of Jersey.
- Constantly improving: we challenge ourselves to improve the way we work and the services we provide.
- Better together: we work effectively every day with colleagues across the States and throughout the Island.
- Always respectful: we exist to serve the people of Jersey and are always respectful in our dealings with them.
- We deliver: we pride ourselves in delivering high-quality services at pace and getting it right.
Measuring and benchmarking
Parliamentary outcomes can be difficult to measure – if turnout falls at an election, to what extent can that be attributed to the publicity campaign about the election, the quality of candidates, public perceptions about whether the election needs to deliver change, or something as simple as the weather?
However, the website redesign and our increasing use of online tools provides us with opportunities to measure how successful our communications are at being read and shared. We will develop a framework in 2018 for measuring the reach of our online communications.
We have recently used the Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey to gauge public attitudes to the election and politics in Jersey in general, and we will continue to explore such methodologies in 2018, subject to funding constraints. We are also exploring ways of gathering data about who votes in the 2018 election, to help us plan our approach to the 2022 election.
We informally benchmark our work with other Commonwealth jurisdictions, which is one of the benefits provided by our membership of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and we will continue to develop this in 2018.
Risks
The Greffe's risk register contains the following risks –
Single point of dependency | High reliance on certain individuals who perform key tasks, for whom there may not be adequate cover when they are absent. |
Catastrophic loss | A major event (fire, flood, etc.) renders Morier House or the Assembly building unusable or similarly affects a key IT system |
Unauthorised disclosure of sensitive data | Sensitive information (e.g. personal, political, commercial), whether stored electronically or in hard copy, is subject to unauthorised disclosure |
Sudden change in political context | Demands placed on the Greffe change suddenly, due to a change in political context |
Change | Loss of morale due to changes in working conditions/ pay, etc./ changes to job roles |
Recruitment and retention | Difficulty in retaining staff and in recruiting people with appropriate skills |
Blurred boundaries between political and managerial roles | Lack of clarity on appropriate decision-making processes |
Information management | Loss of key information, or difficulties in locating such information, due to problems with information management policy and its implementation |
Safe and healthy working environment | Failure to ensure that the States Greffe is a safe and healthy working environment |
Low political engagement on the Island | Our work, and the Assembly as a whole, is undermined by low political engagement in Jersey |
Risks are regularly monitored by the Greffe's senior management team. Resources
We are a team of 29 people (25.6 full-time equivalents).
Our budget for 2018 is £4,963,400. Of this, £2,430,108 is provided to pay States Members' remuneration. Pay and associated costs of Greffe staff amounts to £1,580,592. This leaves around £950,000 to pay for everything else, from the rent on the States Building to the transcription of Hansard.