Meetings of the States in 2012.

STATES OF JERSEY

MEETINGS OF THE STATES IN 2012

Presented to the States on 12th July 2011 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

2011   Price code: A  R.82

REPORT

The Privileges and Procedures Committee is required to fix dates for States meetings for the following year no later than the end of September each year. Standing Orders 3 and 4 read as follows –

3  Sessions of the States

1. There shall be 2 sessions of the States in each year during which they shall meet.
2. The 1st session shall start on the 3rd Tuesday in January and end no later than the last Tuesday in July.
3. The 2nd session shall start on the 2nd Tuesday in September and end no later than the 3rd Tuesday in December.

4  Planning days for meetings of the States

1. The PPC shall, no later than the end of September in each year, present to the States a list of days for meetings of the States in the 1st and 2nd sessions in the following year.
2. Ordinarily, a meeting day is a Tuesday.
3. The list may include continuation days.

The Committee is conscious that many members and others make plans many months in advance, and PPC has therefore decided to fix meeting dates for 2012 before the 2011 summer recess. The dates are shown in the Appendix.

The  previous  PPC  decided  some  years  ago  that,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  States meetings  should  not  take  place  during  the  school holidays.  Although  the  current Committee sees some merit in this principle and has followed it where possible in the 2012 dates, PPC would stress that it no longer considers that it should be an overriding principle that should take precedence over all other considerations when fixing days. For example, the additional continuation days for the last meeting in July 2012 before the summer recess go into the school holidays.

In accordance with the requirements of Standing Orders, the first meeting of 2012 is on the third Tuesday of January, namely 17th January. The normal fortnightly cycle between January and Easter is interrupted in February to avoid a meeting during the school half-term (13th to 17th February) and there is therefore a 3 week gap between the meetings of 1st and 21st February.

After the Easter recess, the remaining meetings of the 1st session follow the normal fortnightly pattern until mid-July, with the fortnightly cycle fortunately avoiding the 2 weeks with Bank Holidays (weeks commencing Monday 7th May and Monday 4th June).

PPC has fixed a final July meeting for 17th July, one week after the meeting of 10th, and this last meeting has additional continuation days into the following week. PPC recognises  that  there  is  traditionally  a  significant  volume  of  business  in  the  last

3

meeting before the summer recess (although this may be less of a problem in the first year of the new States), and the Committee is also aware that members appreciate having  certainty  over  the  precise  date  when  the  summer  recess  will  begin.  The identification of these possible additional days at the outset will give members that certainty,  although  PPC  hopes that,  in practice, the  extra  continuation  days from Tuesday 24th July onward may not actually be required.

The 2nd session begins on the second Tuesday of September, namely 11th, as required by  Standing  Orders.  To  avoid  meeting  on  the  afternoon  of  the  International  Air Display (13th September) the continuation on that day, if required, will be in the morning only, with an extra continuation day listed for Friday 14th September. The normal fortnightly cycle is possible throughout the autumn session (with this cycle fortunately avoiding the school half-term week of 29th October to 2nd November). After the meeting on 4th December, to avoid sitting too close to Christmas, there is one further meeting a week later on 11th December before the Christmas recess.

A 3 week cycle

When considering the States dates for 2012, PPC was asked by a member of the States to give further consideration to the possibility of moving to a 3 week cycle of States meetings; as first suggested by the Greffier of the States in a submission to the States Business Organisation Sub-Group in February 2010.

The  Committee  accepted  that  a  3 week  cycle  of  meetings  could  have  significant benefits for members, who would have a full 2 week period between each States meeting to attend meetings such as Council of Ministers, Scrutiny Panels and other Committees, and to deal with other work such as constituency matters. There would also be other advantages for members if, for example, the Council of Ministers could meet in the first week of the 2 week gap so that Comments on propositions could be agreed and circulated much earlier than at present.

Although  PPC  accepted  that  a  3 week  cycle  could  bring  some  real  benefits,  the Committee was also conscious that consequential changes would be needed before it could be introduced. For example, there might be a requirement to start meetings on Monday rather than Tuesday, to introduce more continuation days and to amend the schedule for oral questions. There would be a requirement to assess the likely impact on the timing of the Strategic Plan, Annual Business Plan and Budget debates. PPC did not consider that it would be responsible to propose this new 3 week cycle until changes to accommodate the above issues had also been made.

Having taken into account the potential problems of making the change to a 3 week cycle at this stage, PPC has concluded that it would be inappropriate for the outgoing Committee to impose a whole new meeting cycle on a new Assembly in the first year of its 3 year term. It is impossible to know what pressures the new Assembly will face in its first year, and PPC has concluded that it would be better to leave any decision on a move to a 3 year term to the new Assembly. If the new PPC considers after the elections that it would be of benefit to move to a 3 week cycle, this could be put in place for 2013 and beyond. In the interim, PPC nevertheless welcomes views from members on the merits of a 3 week cycle and will undertake to pass these views on to the new Committee elected in November.

R.82/2011

APPENDIX

2012 SESSIONS

First Session

January 17th January 31st February 21st March 6th March 20th April 17th May 1st

May 15th May 29th June 12th June 26th July 10th July 17th

Continuation (if necessary) January 18th and 19th

February 1st and 2nd

February 22nd and 23rd

March 7th and 8th

March 21st and 22nd

April 18th and 19th

May 2nd and 3rd

May 16th and 17th

May 30th and 31st

June 13th and 14th

June 27th and 28th

July 11th and 12th

July 18th, 19th, 24th, 25th and 26th

Second Session

Continuation (if necessary)

September 11th  September 12th, 13th (a.m. only) and 14th September 25th  September 26th and 27th

October 9th  October 10th and 11th

October 23rd  October 24th and 25th

November 6th  November 7th and 8th

November 20th  November 21st and 22nd

December 4th  December 5th and 6th

December 11th  December 12th and 13th

The first meeting of 2013 will be on 15th January 2013.