Engaging the Public with Jersey’s democracy: a 3-year strategy.

STATES OF JERSEY

ENGAGING THE PUBLIC WITH

JERSEY'S DEMOCRACY:

A 3-YEAR STRATEGY

Presented to the States on 17th January 2017 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

2017  R.5

FOREWORD

This paper was considered and approved by the Privileges and Procedures Committee at its meeting on 10th January 2017. It has been published in order to inform States Members and the Public and to encourage debate on the subject.

REPORT

The purpose of the States Greffe is to support parliamentary democracy in Jersey. It does this by –

• Supporting the work of the States Assembly and its Committees and Scrutiny Panels
• 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.

Public engagement has long been an element of our work. Examples of such work include –

• The Year 5 schools programme of visits to the Assembly
• Supporting the Jersey Youth Assembly
• The vote.je website and other activity to promote elections
• High-profile public meetings of Scrutiny Panels
• Use of Twitter and Facebook to provide information about the Assembly and Panels
• Webcasting Assembly Sittings.

However, public engagement has developed piecemeal in recent years without any underlying strategy or co-ordination. Some areas (such as the Year 5 visits) are very well-organised,  but  others  (such  as  social  media  activity)  are  more  sporadic  and disjointed. Maintenance of the website is particularly problematic, with no day-to-day editor, no meaningful statistics about usage, and little attention paid to how it can be used as a communication tool (rather than a document archive). The website is in the process of being redesigned so that it is more interactive and engaging: without a public engagement strategy we will not take full advantage of the opportunities that the new website will provide.

Furthermore, new developments in open data and digital-first are not being fully exploited. There is a strong risk that our services will fall increasingly short of both public and Members' expectations unless we keep up. This would undermine the Assembly's reputation at a time when trust in politics in Jersey, as in many democratic jurisdictions, appears to be waning, and turnout in elections remains stubbornly low, adversely affecting the Assembly's effectiveness in representing the best interests of Islanders. If the Assembly is increasingly seen as out of touch from the people it serves, Jersey's democracy will be damaged.

This public engagement strategy for the period from 2017 to 2020 will address these concerns. We will aim to ensure that people in Jersey are better informed about the work of the Assembly and have more opportunities to engage with, and influence, that work. The main strands of the strategy are set out below.

Transparency

The  Assembly  is  a  transparent  institution.  It  almost  always  meets  in  public.  Its proceedings are broadcast on the radio and are now webcast. Archived copies are available. We publish online and in hard copy hundreds of Propositions, Reports, Questions  and  Answers,  transcripts  and  other  documents  each  year.  Panels  and Committees have a mix of public and private meetings and also publish minutes and other documents. Our website (both the Assembly and the Scrutiny parts) contain enormous amounts of information about the Island's political life, and we are also responsible for the vote.je website which deals with election arrangements and results.

We will enhance the transparency of our work in the following ways –

• We will launch a new website for the Assembly in 2017, better integrating the Assembly and Scrutiny websites and providing a new focus on communicating news stories, with a more up-to-date look and feel.
• During 2017 we will re-invigorate our Facebook content and embed our Twitter content, so that both are used to communicate news stories and draw people to the website for more information.
• By summer 2018 we will introduce a new online guide which explains how the Assembly works, and which explains parliamentary jargon.
• During  2017–2018  we  will  consider  options  for  webcasting  public  Panel meetings.
• We will also review webcasting of the Assembly to find the best ways of linking relevant content (for example, Propositions, Reports) to webcasts, and of using extracts of webcasts in website news stories. By 2019 we will have thought through options for Assembly webcasting after the end of the current contract in 2020.
• In 2017 we will publish voting data from 2005 onwards in an open data format. By  2020  we  will  aim  to  publish  Hansard,  Questions  and  Answers  and Propositions as open data, and develop ways of linking content so that people can find information they are interested in more quickly and easily.

Digital

The States Assembly is a paper-heavy institution. Our documents are written and designed for hard-copy publication, with digital publication (usually as PDF documents) as a second-order process.

However, information is increasingly consumed in digital formats – using PCs, tablets and phones. This affects content and design. Crucially, digital publication enables information to be shared and manipulated much more easily than can be achieved with

hard-copy publication. People expect to be able to share content on social media, click from one piece of information to related pieces, and to bookmark content they are particularly interested in for future reference.

We will aim to publish our information in digital formats first. This transformation will take place in stages, taking account of the complexity of the information produced by the Greffe and the different political processes involved. We will aim to –

• Publish Hansard and Panel transcripts as open data using an XML template from 2017 (a new Hansard contract must be in place by June 2017)
• Introduce a new digital tool for accepting, editing and publishing Questions and Answers in 2018 and for non-legislative Propositions in 2019
• Introduce  digital-first  Scrutiny  Reports  in  2018,  making  more  use  of infographics and video
• Explore digital-first publication of legislative Propositions, in consultation with the Jersey Legal Information Board, with a view to implementing a new digital tool in 2020.

Appendix 2 to this strategy sets out the Greffe's digital vision in more detail.

Although the aim is to publish information principally in a digital format, printable versions will still be generated, and Members who wish to receive paper copies of Greffe documents will continue to receive them on request.

Moving to digital-first will generate significant benefits for States Members, as well as the Public, in terms of easier and quicker processes for submitting Questions, receiving Answers and lodging Propositions, and in keeping track of their Assembly activity.

In order to make progress with these digital-first initiatives, during 2017 we will create databases for States Members' names (back to 2005), roles in the Assembly, types of proceedings, and topics discussed in the Assembly.

In relation to public elections, we will ensure that people can register to vote using an online form from autumn 2017, and we will continue work on introducing automatic electoral registration with a view to the new system being implemented in 2018–2019. We  will  also  develop  proposals  for  the  introduction  of  online  voting  for  further discussion by the Assembly by 2020.

Informing and educating

The States Assembly invests significant resources in informing and educating the Public about Jersey's politics. Access to Assembly documents and information leaflets is provided via the website and the States Assembly Information Centre in Morier House. The vote.je website is the authoritative source of information about elections. The Assembly's  Year 5  school  visits  programme  is  well-established  and  has  a  high reputation amongst Commonwealth parliamentary bodies. The Assembly also supports the Youth Assembly and the annual Rotary Club peace' debate, and has offered assistance to the Jersey Youth Parliament.

We will enhance our work in this area by –

• Launching an exhibition (physical and online) on the 130th anniversary of the opening of the Assembly building in June 2017
• Planning  for  further  exhibitions  including,  potentially,  on  the  250th anniversaries of the march on the Royal Court in 2019 and the 1771 legal code in 2021
• Targeting information campaigns about the Assembly and elections to it at the Island's Portuguese and Polish communities in 2017 and 2018
• Ensuring that the vote.je website remains a definitive source of information about all aspects of Jersey's elections, including as a gateway to online voter registration
• Working with the Bailiff 's Chambers on facilitating tours of the Assembly building,  including  exploring  options  for  an  "open  house"  event/week associated with the June 2017 exhibition.

Interactivity

People mostly interact with the States Assembly through their elected representatives, who engage day in, day out with their constituents on matters of concern to them. The Greffe also has its part to play in assisting this process of interaction. For example, Scrutiny  Panels  will  often  seek  submissions  from  the  Public  on  issues  they  are examining,  and  the  Greffier  will  circulate  to  all  Members  e-mails  and  other correspondence sent to him relating to forthcoming Assembly business. However, these mechanisms are relatively undeveloped when compared to all parliamentary bodies, and little  guidance  is  provided  to  the  Public  on  how  to  engage  with  the  Assembly, particularly online. In the 2017–2020 period we will –

• Subject to the agreement of the Assembly to the appropriate Standing Order changes (in 2017), assist the Assembly in undertaking more legislative scrutiny by Panels, with an increased focus on public engagement about legislative proposals
• Subject to the agreement of PPC and the Assembly (in 2017–2018), devise and introduce a new system for submitting online petitions to the Assembly
• Ensure that ways of engaging with the Assembly's proceedings (for example Panel  inquiries  and  legislative  scrutiny)  are  prominent  features  of  the relaunched website
• Routinely use social media as a means of engaging with the Public about the Assembly's work (whilst avoiding any partisan comment).

Measuring success

During  2017  we  will  develop  ways  of  measuring  our  success  in  improving  our engagement with the Public. This is likely to involve a mix of straightforward analytics (for  example,  website  usage,  social  media  engagement,  public  interactions  with Scrutiny) and qualitative analysis about people's views of the Assembly, based on survey data. We will seek to benchmark our success in this area against comparable jurisdictions.

Resourcing

We will endeavour to implement this strategy within our existing budget, working closely with colleagues in the States Information Services Department and Digital Jersey  in  relation  to  digital  transformation.  All  Greffe  staff  will  be  involved  in implementing the strategy and in working through how these changes will affect their roles.

However, we are likely to need a new post of Public Engagement Co-ordinator to manage implementation of this strategy, and we may also need support to develop new digital processes. Further work will be undertaken in early 2017 on these requirements.

Dr. Mark Egan, Greffier of the States, December 2016

APPENDIX 1

TIMELINE

2017  Launch new States Assembly website

Re-invigorate social media

Publish voting data from 2005 in open data format

Begin work on data strategies (to be completed by 2019)

Improve links from webcasting to key documents and website news stories

New Hansard contract from June 2017 includes publication of transcripts

in open data format

Consider options for webcasting Panels (concludes 2018) Implement Assembly decisions on improved legislative scrutiny Plan for possible introduction of e-petitioning

Exhibition on 130th anniversary of the Assembly building

Ongoing  engagement  with  the   Bailiff 's  Chambers  about  tours  of  the building (for example, an Open House day linked to the exhibition)

Enable voter registration by online form; pursue automatic registration

(implemented once the People Directory is in place)

Information campaigns about elections targeted at Polish and Portuguese

communities (continues in 2018)

Work on vote.je in readiness for 2018 election

Develop performance measures and benchmarks Consider and implement organisational changes

2018  Introduce new online guide on how the Assembly works

Introduce new application for accepting, editing and publishing Questions

and Answers

Introduce digital-first Scrutiny Reports

Extensive programme of public engagement to encourage higher voter

turnout  in  the  2018  election  (including  possible  Democracy Week' in the run-up to the election)

2019  Develop options for webcasting post-2020

Explore digital-first publication of legislative Projets (aim to implement

during 2020)

Develop proposals for online voting (to be put to the Assembly in 2020) Exhibition on 250th anniversary of "Reform Day"

2020  Plan for 2021 exhibition on 250th anniversary of the 1771 Code

APPENDIX 2

STATES ASSEMBLY 2020

Jean Le Marquand has spent her morning reading a report from the Environment Department on hedgehog numbers in Jersey. She is very worried that the hedgehog population has halved since 1980 and she doesn't think Ministers are doing enough to support hedgehogs. She goes to the States Assembly website and sets up a save the hedgehog' e-petition and e-mails her friends to sign it. E-petitions are submitted quickly and easily and anyone with a Jersey address (verified by comparison with a central database) can sign. By the end of the day the petition has 450 signatories. Any petition with over 1,000 signatories is automatically debated by the Assembly.

Three days later and the petition is close to triggering a debate. The JEP has run a story on hedgehog numbers, mentioning the petition, and Jean has been interviewed on Radio Jersey. Now Deputy Le Feuvre has been in touch to support the campaign. She is a longstanding campaigner on environmental matters and has searched Hansard online to show that hedgehogs have never been debated in the Assembly.

Deputy Le Feuvre logs onto the Au Greffe app at Gatwick, on her way back to Jersey following a meeting with the RSPCA in London. She drafts a couple of Written Questions on hedgehogs that she has been thinking about following her meeting and then ticks a box to convert a third, which she drafted previously and which is stored in her basket', from Written to Oral.

Next she looks at a draft Proposition and report on hedgehog conservation which she is working on and makes some tweaks before pressing the "lodge" button. The app automatically populates some of the data relating to the Proposition and provides a template for both the Proposition and the report.

The Assistant Greffier logs on to the app to see that she has received 3 new Questions from Deputy Le Feuvre. She edits them in the application and submits them to the Greffier, who can pass them to the Bailiff for approval.

The approved Written Questions are transmitted directly to nominated staff in the relevant departments, who provide their Answers in due course via the app. The Answers  are  transmitted  directly  to   Deputy  Le Feuvre  and  published  online simultaneously. Jean has set up an alert so that she receives an e-mail whenever anything is published on the Assembly website about hedgehogs. The Oral Question is also transmitted to the department in this way but, of course, the Answer is given in the Assembly. The text of the Answer is appropriately tagged in Hansard so that it can be pulled out for publication with the Oral Question online. People searching for material in Assembly Questions will be able to pull up data from Oral or Written Questions without having to know which procedure was followed.

The Greffier looks at Deputy Le Feuvre's draft Proposition, makes some tweaks to the wording, and e-mails it (from the app) to the Bailiff for approval. Once this has been secured, and the Proposition has been proofed, it is e-mailed automatically to Members and published online.

The Deputy of St. Mary reads the Proposition on his phone while having a cup of coffee in town. He thinks that the level 2 fine for running over a hedgehog should be increased to level 3. He logs into the app, selects the Proposition for amendment, and deletes "2" and inserts "3" at the appropriate point. This automatically generates an amendment proposition which he saves so that he can prepare his report later. The Deputy of Trinity is sat at home also thinking about hedgehogs. She wants to extend the provisions in the Proposition to moles, but isn't sure if she is allowed to, or whether she has to go through the whole document adding "and moles" wherever "hedgehog" is mentioned. She e-mails the Deputy Greffier, who promises to take a look. The Law Draftsman agrees it can be done and does the work necessary in the app for the Deputy , thus generating the amendment proposition.

Senator Filleul is not a confident user of technology and has chosen not to use the Au Greffe app. He e-mails his Questions to the Assistant Greffier in the traditional way. A member of the Greffe team processes them by entering them into the app on the Senator's behalf – triggering the editorial and approval process described above. He also submits Propositions and amendments on paper, sometimes by scribbling amendments on a hard-copy print-out of a presentation. Again, a member of the team deals with these by logging into the system as the Senator to submit his material for lodging.

The Environment Panel's Scrutiny Officer drafts the Panel's comments on the hedgehog Proposition in WORD format, for circulation to Panel Members in the usual way. Once approved, she submits the comments into the app for publication, which ensures that they are correctly formatted and contain the relevant descriptive data. Next she resumes work on a draft report on mammal conservation in Jersey, which will include a short video from a leading environmentalist and an infographic showing population trends.

Everything published by the Greffe is catalogued by topic, so that the Public and Members can find material by theme (for example "hedgehog", "minimum wage", "income support") without needing to know whether that theme was the subject of a Proposition, a Report, a Question, or another form of proceeding.

Legislative Projets have just started to be drafted using the app, which is a major time- saver compared to the past. In legislative Projets, hyperlinks are provided to the relevant parts of the Revised Edition on the Jersey Legal Information Board website, showing what has been amended, and it will be possible to see how the Revised Edition would look as amended were the Proposition to be adopted (including as amended, where appropriate).

Most Members  use  electronic  devices to look at the  Order Paper and  associated documents as it is easier to navigate online than on paper. Paper copies of the Order Paper and documents for debate are provided in the Assembly building, and some Members, such as Senator Filleul, continue to rely on them.

Jean attends the debate on Deputy Le Feuvre's hedgehog Proposition in the Public Gallery, using her tablet to look at the information which States Members are using. Most of her colleagues in the action group are watching the webcast or will watch the relevant section later on. The next day, Jean takes some clips from the webcast and combines them with the key documents to create a new section of the action group's website, showing the story so far in the battle to protect Jersey's hedgehogs.