States Greffe and Legislative Drafting Office Business Plan 2024

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES GREFFE AND LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING OFFICE BUSINESS PLAN 2024

Presented to the States on 19th April 2024 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

2024  R.65

States Greffe Business Plan 2024

Introduction

The States Greffe 2024 Business Plan sets out who we are and what we do. It lists our specific operational aims for 2024; provides the context in which we operate; and explains how we measure our performance.

The Business Plan is intended to provide clarity to the public, States Members and staff within the States and Government of Jersey about our role and objectives. It is an operational document for the States Greffe; but the Business Plan receives political sign-off through approval by the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC) and formal presentation to the States Assembly. In addition to the Business Plan, PPC publishes a States Assembly Annual Report that includes an assessment of progress against the commitments we made for that year.

What do we want to achieve in 2024?

The activity of the States Greffe is driven by the work of the States Assembly, of its Committees and Panels and of States Members. Much of what we do is therefore business as usual' and there is always a need for us to be responsive both to the decisions taken by the Assembly and its Committees and Panels and to the requests we receive from States Members.

We have nevertheless identified 12 operational objectives for 2024 to which we will work as a department during the course of the year. As a result, in addition to delivering our business as usual' activities, we will –

1. Contribute to the successful delivery of an Island-wide register of voters and the delivery of automatic voter registration.
2. Celebrate  the  500th anniversary of  the  earliest  existing States  minutes  from  1524,  encouraging Islanders to engage with the history of the States Assembly.
3. Establish a structured training and professional development programme for elected States Members serving on Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee.
4. Host the annual meeting of the Crown Dependency Network.
5. Launch and embed the new States Assembly website and implement Phase 2 of development of the website.
6. Extend the scope of bodies supported by the Secretariat Team.
7. Launch the Election '26 campaign with an in-year focus on encouraging Islanders to stand for election.
8. Develop, and begin implementing, an Outreach Strategy to help reach and engage more Islanders with the work of the States Assembly.
9. Investigate further opportunities to integrate advances in technology and software (including Artificial Intelligence) into the work of the department.
10. Introduce the Constituency Support Team to assist States Members with their constituency work.
11. Present  proposals  to  the  Privileges  and  Procedures  Committee,  under  the  auspices  of  the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association regional disabilities network, for how the States Assembly can better meet the needs of people with disabilities.
12. Develop a Continuing Professional Development programme for Island teachers in order to help build confidence in delivering political education in schools.

In Appendix 1 to this Business Plan, we provide more detail on how we intend to achieve these objectives and how we will measure performance.

Departmental Overview – What we do

The States Greffe's overarching objective is:

To enable democracy to flourish by supporting and promoting the States Assembly and

engaging people in politics.

The core business of the States Greffe is supporting the work of the States Assembly, its Panels and Committees and individual States Members in the work they undertake. There is consequently 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 are actions arising which we must implement. 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.

The department is divided into three sections:

• Chamber and Members' Support (comprising the Members' Resources Team, the Constituency Support Team and the Support Services Team);

• Committees and Panels (comprising the Secretariat, PPC and Scrutiny functions); and

• Digital and Public Engagement.

The Legislative Drafting Office (LDO) is also attached to the States Greffe, with the Principal Legislative Drafter reporting to the Greffier of the States, although it is operationally independent of the other sections. The LDO's Business Plan for 2024 is published as Appendix 3 to this Business Plan.

The department is led by the Greffier of the States who, with the Deputy Greffier of the States and the heads of the three sections, forms the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The Principal Legislative Drafter also attends meetings of the SLT in order that cross-sectional matters are considered and discussed. An organogram setting out the structure of the States Greffe and the relationship to the Legislative Drafting Office (LDO) is attached to this Business Plan as Appendix 2.

The following describes the role played by each of the sections. Chamber and Members' Support

In administering the work of the States Assembly, the States Greffe supports the Bailiff and all States Members in the management of States business and procedures. This includes providing advice on propositions, questions, statements and other matters before the Assembly. The Greffe is also responsible for the publication of all States documentation (including the Order Paper for each States meeting), the editing of the Official Record (commonly known as Hansard) and preparation of the States Minutes, as well as the uploading of documentation to the States Assembly website.

The Members' Resources Team assists Members acting independently with research and advice on States business (including propositions and questions) and their professional development; the Team also produces Briefing Papers for Members' and the public's information. The Constituency Support Team is a new team in 2024 and exists to support Members with the work they undertake directly for, and alongside, their constituents. The Support Services Team ensures the smooth administration of the department and of States proceedings, including the operation of the camera equipment for webcasting, log-noting Scrutiny public hearings, supporting the Members' facilities in the States Building and Hill Street office, and distributing documents.

Committees and Panels

The States Greffe works with the Assembly's Committees and Panels: the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC) and its Sub-Committees, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Scrutiny Liaison Committee (SLC), the 5 Scrutiny Panels and any Review Panels in operation. Staff undertake research and

advise Panels and Committees on the management of these bodies' respective work-programmes; including the reviews of legislation, policy and matters of public importance undertaken by the Scrutiny Panels.

Making use of its expertise, experience, knowledge and objective approach, the States Greffe also offers an impartial specialist secretariat service to the Council of Ministers, States Employment Board, Planning Committee and other executive bodies, and offers quality assurance for the Ministerial Decision process.

Digital and Public Engagement

A key function of the States Greffe is the engagement of Islanders in the work of the States Assembly. The Digital and Public Engagement Section oversees communications and engagement in respect of the Assembly's work, as well as that of Scrutiny and other parliamentary bodies (including administration of the Assembly's social media channels). Education, outreach and campaign-management are led from this section; including in support of the responsibilities of the Jersey Electoral Authority via Vote.je during an election period.

As part of this work, there is a programme of school visits in term-time to the States Chamber for Year 5 students and the organisation of the annual Youth Assembly, in which students from the Island's post-16 schools and colleges debate topics they propose. The States Greffe also supports the annual Colin Powell Rotary Peace Debate and provides advice and support to the proceedings of the Jersey Youth Parliament (Les Jannes Vouaix).

Beyond these core activities of the three sections, there is other work we undertake because of our support for the States Assembly and the historical role and expertise of the States Greffe. We administer the States Assembly's work with, and role within, international parliamentary organisations: the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) and the British - Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA). We also provide administrative and executive support to a number of independent bodies and office-holders which have been appointed by the States Assembly and which sit independently of both the Government of Jersey and of the States Assembly: the States of Jersey Complaints Panel, the States Members' Remuneration Reviewer, the Jersey Electoral Authority, the Referendum Commission and the Commissioner for Standards.

Departmental Overview – Strategic Context

Informed by the Jersey Performance Framework, the work of the States Greffe is most relevant to the objective of the wider public sector that:

Islanders engage in the public decisions that affect their Island The long-term focus for this outcome is:

Public engagement in decision-making promotes government accountability, a friendly business environment and public trust in government institutions.

In December 2022, the States Assembly adopted the Common Strategic Policy (CSP). In accordance with the States of Jersey Law 2005, the CSP is a statement of the shared policy of the Council of Ministers and, operationally speaking, is therefore of most direct relevance to Government Departments. Nevertheless, elements of the 2022 CSP linked to the work we undertake in the States Greffe. And the Assembly, its Committees and Panels and States Members are involved in scrutinising, considering and debating matters brought by the Government in accordance with the CSP – all work for which we provide administrative and executive support.[1]

Of most relevance to the work of the States Greffe, the 2022 CSP included the aim of creating "a more inclusive, vibrant community where people feel respected and able to flourish, as well as safe and protected". Furthermore, the CSP incorporated the Government's aim to build trust and accountability – both of which are also relevant to the work of the States Assembly. In particular, the CSP stated that the Government will work with PPC and the SLC "in seeking to increase civic engagement and understanding".

The Government Plan is the annual process whereby resources are allocated (both to Government and non-Government departments), with the Plan debated and approved by the States Assembly. In the Government Plan 2024-27 the following 4 additional areas of funding were agreed for the States Greffe:

1. Enhancing capacity within the  Secretariat Team  in order to meet increasing demands for a specialist impartial minutes service and to ensure that a more appropriate number of high-profile and reputationally-critical Government and States-appointed bodies are supported.
2. Introducing the Constituency Support Team  to ensure elected States Members receive improved support and assistance with the work they undertake alongside, and on behalf of, their constituents.
3. Ensuring full resourcing for the post of  Creative Content Producer  to address a gap inadvertently established within the preceding Government Plan, as insufficient funding had been provided at that stage.
4. Ensuring appropriate resourcing within the Legislative Drafting Office, in particular to provide sufficient resource for the work on roads and traffic legislation.

Departmental Overview – Operating Context

Accountability

The States Greffe is accountable to the States Assembly, the Bailiff (as President of the States), and to individual States Members. The Greffier of the States is appointed by the Bailiff , with the consent of the States Assembly. The States Greffe's budget is proposed by PPC. Under Article 10 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019, the Chair of the Committee submits the budget to the Minister for Treasury and Resources for inclusion in the annual Government Plan. However, the budget proposed by PPC must be considered directly by the Assembly and it cannot be changed except on the basis of an amendment debated and approved by the Assembly. The services provided by the States Greffe (including its budget) are overseen by PPC and, in relation to the Scrutiny function, the SLC.

Resources

As of 1st April 2024 we were a team of 44 people with a further  8 vacant posts at different stages of recruitment.[1] Our revenue expenditure budget for 2024 is £9.904 million. Of this, the majority is for staff costs (including elected States Members).

Risk

The principal risks affecting the department have been identified as follows:

Staff development

We intend to be proactive and flexible in identifying training opportunities of benefit to all colleagues and encouraging participation. In addition to opportunities arising from the Assembly's membership of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), we participate in the following networks for parliamentary staff and encourage colleagues to learn about and  gain  experience  of  parliamentary  administration across  the  Commonwealth  and  the  French - speaking world –

1. Parliamentary and Assembly Procedural Officers Network (PAPON);
2. Inter-Parliamentary Research and Information Network (IPRIN);
3. International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN);
4. British-Irish Parliamentary Reporting Association (BIPRA); and
5. Association des Secrétaires Généraux des parlements francophones (ASGPF).

We have committed to developing more opportunities for staff to gain experience of parliamentary work in other places in order to develop their skills.

Equality and Diversity

We support the work of the States Assembly's Diversity Forum, a PPC Sub-Committee, which "is working towards the aim of the States Assembly fully reflecting the population of Jersey and representing all of the communities and interests in the Island", as well as the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian (CWP) and the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) networks. We have encouraged flexible working within the States Greffe and agreed a policy for that and home-working.

Values

The States Employment Board has agreed the following values for all States employees:

• We are respectful – we care about people as individuals and show respect for their rights, views and feelings

• We are better together – we share knowledge and expertise, valuing the benefits of working together

• We are always improving – we are continuously developing ourselves and our services to be the best they can be for Jersey

• We are customer focused – we are passionate about making Jersey a better place to live and work for everyone

• We deliver – we are proud of Jersey as a place and are passionate about shaping and delivering great public services

In 2022 the States Greffe adopted and implemented a 3-year Wellness Strategy; and a Wellness Committee was established. In 2024, the department will complete a review of the Strategy in order to determine the priorities for the remainder of the 3-year period; this will include consideration of the values

that should apply to the department.

Measuring and Benchmarking

In terms of the wider public sector's strategic context, the outcome set out in the Jersey performance framework which we wish to see achieved is:

Islanders engage in the public decisions that affect their Island.

The published indicators which show how Jersey is doing in relation to this outcome are:

• % of Islanders who agree that they can influence decisions that affect Jersey;

• % of Islanders who engaged in civic activities in the last 12 months;

• Number of Islanders registered to vote;

• Voter turnout in Island-wide elections;

• % of States Members returned unopposed at Island-wide elections; and

• Average score for Islanders' level of trust in the States Assembly.

We continue to develop a suite of measures of our own performance, covering:

• The number of children and young people we reach with our educational initiatives and the feedback on each programme from children, teachers and parents;

• The reach of, and engagement with, our communications activities;

• The number of people registering interest in standing for election and the number of potential candidates who access support we provide or co-ordinate;

• Number of partners reinforcing public information and campaign messages relating to the States Assembly;

• The volume and accuracy of reporting by the local media on States Assembly business;

• Consideration of legislation by Scrutiny Panels;

• Member satisfaction with Scrutiny and research work; and

• The satisfaction of the bodies for whom we provide secretariat services.

We also participate in CPA benchmarking exercises, which enables Jersey's parliamentary system to be compared with legislatures in other Commonwealth jurisdictions and against a standard framework identified by the CPA.

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Appendix 1: 2024 Objectives and Performance Measures

The table below sets out the performance measures we have in place or are developing for our 2024 objectives.

APPENDIX 2 – Organogram

Greffier of the States

Deputy Greffier of the

States Principal Legislative Drafter

Finance and HR Officer

G9 Legislative Drafters Office

Assistant Greffier Assistant Greffier Head of Digital and Public (Committees and Panels) (ChamberSuanppdo rMt)embers'  Engagement

G14 G14 G14

Principal

Principal Committee and  Principal Research and  Constituency

Panel Officer Principal Secretariat Officer Caseworker Support Officer

G12 G12 G12 G12 Digital

Communications  OutreachManager

Manager

Campaign Manager Education Manager G11 G11

G11 G10

Senior Secretariat Officers

Committee and Panel  x3 Research and Project

Officers x 6 Officer x 3 Creative Content Producer

G11

G11 G9 G9

Secretariat Officers x 3 Research and Project  Publications and Data

ReseaOfrcfhicanersdxPr5oject  TBC Office GM9anager OfficGer9 x 4 EdGit9or

G9 Communications Officer Communications Officer Communications Officer

G8 G8 G8

Assistant Secretariat

Officers x 2 Support Services Team

G9 Leader

G7

Administrative Assistants x4

G5

Appendix 3 – Legislative Drafting Office Business Plan 2024 Introduction

This is the fifth business plan of the Legislative Drafting Office (LDO) published alongside the States Greffe Business Plan. It sets out our aims for 2024 and the values that drive our work.

Overview of the LDO

The LDO sits within the States Greffe as a separate unit. It shares the States Greffe budget, and the Greffier of the States is the line manager of the Principal Legislative Drafter and the accounting officer for the LDO as well as for the States Greffe. The States Greffe provides accommodation, facilities and services to the LDO on matters not relating to the production of legislation.

The main purpose of the LDO is:

To prepare draft legislation that gives legal effect to the policy of the Minister or other promoter of it in a way that is:

1. sufficiently unambiguous as to leave no room for construction other than that intended by the promoter; and
2. sufficiently clear as to be readily understood by the users of the legislation.

The work of the LDO feeds into all aspects of the Jersey performance framework to the extent that legislation is required. The Government Legislative Programme sets out the items of legislation that Ministers wish to be lodged in any given year. "Minor and routine" items that may still be of great importance but take only a day or so to draft, as well as work for the States Assembly, its Committees, Panels and individual Members, comprise the rest of the LDO's workload. The work of the LDO supports the whole of Government whenever any of its plans or policies require a law change.

The secondary purpose of the LDO is to ensure accurate and up-to-date access to Jersey legislation.

How we work

The LDO's mission statement is "turning policy into Jersey law". This is achieved by taking the policy of Government (or, where applicable, that of an individual States Member, Committee or Scrutiny Panel) and producing draft legislation which, if the States Assembly (or in the case of an Order, a Minister) so decides, can pass into law.

We receive instructions from the Department, Member, Committee or Scrutiny Panel, analyse their requirements and, through working with the instructor, produce a draft that as far as is possible reflects their  policy  intention.  Most  of  our  work  is  for  Government,  and  with  large  legislative  items  this necessitates honing the policy through a number of drafts. But, importantly, the office also assists Members and Scrutiny Panels who wish to alter Government policy, principally by preparing for them amendments to any Government legislation that requires passing by the States Assembly.

The LDO also has a responsibility as guardian of the statute book in a manner that is consistent with the principles of the Free Access to Law Movement, of which the Jersey Legal Information Board (JLIB) is a member. Since the Legislation (Jersey) Law 2021 came into force in September 2021, the Principal Legislative Drafter has a statutory duty to prepare and publish consolidated legislation so that anyone can see what the law is as of today. This gives us our secondary purpose of giving everyone easy access to  current  law.  We  are  responsible  for  notifying  the  public of  any  new  legislation,  maintaining  a continually updated database of legislation, and ensuring it is published. This is done in conjunction with JLIB.

What we want to achieve in 2024

Our objectives for 2024 are:

• We will continue to work to the requirements of Government to deliver the Government Legislative Programme provided that drafting instructions are supplied and responses to drafts are received within reasonable time to allow for lodging.

• We will continue to work with JLIB to enhance the appearance and usability of the legislation section of the jerseylaw.je website to improve access to the law by all users, to develop a search engine specifically for legislation and a point in time' facility that will be particularly useful to specialist users such as the judiciary, practitioners or academics to access legislation for a given date in the past.

• We will continue to improve our drafting template as well as keep in mind the possible future use of XML, including LawMaker, LegalRuleML and Akoma Ntoso.

• We have published our current drafting practice, as required by the Legislation (Jersey) Law 2021. We will continue to review it and examine our house style to develop more consistency and clarity in how we draft.

• We will continue to promote better understanding of who we are and how we work by engaging as far as we can with States Members and others with whom we interact. We have agreed to offer a training session for States Members on instructing the drafter in 2024.

• We will run more of our training courses for instructing officers, if there is a demand for them.

• We will finalise the drafting of a new Interpretation Law to be lodged by the end of the year and use it also as a vehicle for tidying up minor errors and making other changes to the statute book, in particular improvements to the Legislation (Jersey) Law 2021.

• We will continue to use powers retained in the Legislation (Jersey) Law 2021 to prepare draft revised legislation to put before the newly re-established Law Revision Board on a twice-yearly basis. The Board is empowered to make changes that fall outside of editorial powers but do not change the meaning. The work of the Board is a powerful aid in improving the quality of the statute book.

• We will continue our work on the Computer-Readable Legislation Project and produce a final report on its achievements at the end of the year. We are developing ways to improve and mark up the logical structures in draft legislation, to make them readable by computers so that they can be checked for consistency and for application to different scenarios. We are also producing guidance and training material for legislative drafters on improving the logical rigour of our drafts (using lessons learnt from computing and formal logic). This year we will work with Digital Jersey on a pioneering Artificial Intelligence experiment with Google. Jersey is playing a leading role in the world with this project.

• We will continue to use social media to promote our achievements and matters of interest to drafters and others worldwide.

• We  will  continue  to  participate  in  international  drafting  conferences  and  other  training opportunities  that  may  arise,  including  being  represented  at  a  major  conference  for Commonwealth  drafters  in  Jamaica  and  in  assisting  the  training  of  drafters  elsewhere  in partnership with Public Administration International.

Our values

The LDO is staffed by lawyers and support staff with specialist skills committed to delivering high quality legislation for Jersey in accordance with public policy. The core values of the Government of Jersey are reflected in what we do and, as refreshed and applied in the LDO, are as follows:

1. We are respectful

We aim to treat all those we come across in our work with respect and co-operate with them as appropriate in all our dealings. We care about our colleagues as individuals and respect their positions and responsibilities in the workplace. We also respect their opinions even when we disagree with them.

2. We are better together

We share knowledge and expertise, valuing the benefits of working collaboratively with colleagues across departments and disciplines to help maintain the highest standards in drafting legislation for Jersey.

3. We are always improving

We look for ways of improving our expertise for the benefit of Jersey, whether it be modernising or simplifying our style of drafting or upgrading the technology that supports what we do. We look outwards  to  the  practices  and  systems  that  evolve  in  drafting  offices  in  other  Commonwealth jurisdictions and take opportunities to learn from and share ideas with them.

4. We are customer focused

We are passionate about using our expertise to produce legislation that benefits the people of Jersey. We never forget that our purpose is to respond to the needs of those who instruct us, and, through them, the wider public. We aim to meet their needs as efficiently and effectively as we can.

5. We deliver

We are proud of working for Jersey and are passionate about delivering high-quality draft legislation as quickly as is consistent with the high degree of accuracy our work demands.

Measuring and benchmarking

We are committed to assisting Government to meet the requirements of the Government Legislative Programme for each year. We rely on Government Departments to send us appropriately detailed instructions so that we can give effect to Ministers' policy ambitions in legislation. Like the Greffe as a whole, we are also there to respond to the drafting needs of Scrutiny Panels, Committees and individual States Members. Our work is therefore demand-led and does not easily lend itself to targets.

Our Drafting Office Management Information System (Domis) makes it easier for the Principal Legislative Drafter to track progress on legislation projects. Domis, as well as being a way to store and retrieve electronic documents, provides a semi-automated system of recording time which has been used for all new drafting projects from the beginning of 2020. Since the launch of Domis 2' in March 2022 it became much easier to extract useful management information from the system, such as how long drafting projects are with the LDO and how long they spend being reviewed by the instructing Department or elsewhere. It also enables time spent in drafting to be recorded more accurately. Domis 2 is also capable of producing reports on the state of play of each drafting project which are fed back to the Cabinet Office, which hosts the Government Legislative Programme in Perform. This enhances the ability to check on how drafting projects are progressing.

In 2023 we introduced a brief satisfaction survey for instructing officers. We sent out a slightly revised version of the survey in 2024. The survey consists of an introductory question concerning the extent of interaction  between  the  respondent  and  the  LDO,  followed  by  an  extended  survey  consisting  of questions eliciting their satisfaction with the various services provided by the LDO, and other matters, using  3-  and  4-point  Likert  scales.  Overall,  the  feedback  from  the  LDO's  first  annual  survey  was overwhelmingly positive.

The 2024 survey was sent to 81 people (76 in 2023) and 23 responses were received (31 in 2023), with 15 out of 23 participants (65%) going on to answer the extended survey (21 out of 31 (67%) in 2023).

The results of the 2024 survey were similar to the 2023 survey: the majority of respondents selected the most positive response to questions concerning their satisfaction with matters such as the drafter's analysis of their project, the drafter's advice, the drafter's availability, and the extent to which the draft met policy objectives. The remaining respondents selected the next most positive response. There were no negative responses.

Several  respondents  followed  up  with  written  comments  giving  further  detail  of  their  positive experience, or, in a small number of examples, constructive feedback, observations and suggestions. The LDO will consider those points and act on any that may further improve our services.

Resources

The LDO has a budget of over £1.7m. The current in-house staff complement is 14 full-time staff, 10 of whom are legislative drafters (including 2 trainees and 2 temporary posts to cover or backfill large projects), and 3 editorial support staff. There is also one further drafter, not included in our complement, who sits outside of the LDO, working on road traffic matters for IHE, plus a further half-time drafter working on Rules as Code. The legislative drafters are all lawyers of considerable experience, qualified in a Commonwealth jurisdiction (including the UK). 2024 saw the promotion of our first trainee, Advocate Jackie Harris , to full drafter. The office is supported as needed with specialist drafting office IT and related support from the Legislation Services Consultant who works for us remotely as needed. With the increase in staff, we expect to rely less on consultant drafters who undertake contract drafting work if required.

At the time of writing our organisational chart is as follows: