The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
STATES OF JERSEY
r
TRAVELLING AND ENTERTAINING COSTS: PROVISION OF INFORMATION (P.51/2004) – COMMENTS
Presented to the States on 11th May 2004 by the Finance and Economics Committee
STATES GREFFE
COMMENTS
The Finance and Economics Committee supports the provision of information appropriate and sufficient to States members for the purpose of informed strategic policy-making. However, the Committee does not believe that the scrutiny by the States of every single item of expenditure relating to travel and entertaining – the majority of which would relate to associated training – is the best use of States Members' valuable time, particularly given that such expenditure relates to such a small fraction (amounting to approximately one per cent) of total net revenue expenditure.
The Shadow Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is the body recently established by the States to scrutinize such areas of expenditure and value for money issues. It is therefore recommended that it would be preferable to refer such expenditure for a professional review and to report to the States thereon in due course.
The Committee is aware that the provision of the level of data required by the proposition could be in contravention of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 1987.
In addition, whilst a level of detail regarding expenditure exists on the States financial information system, the detail is not to the level demanded by the proposition and would incur not insignificant costs in collation, verification and reporting to the States, as a time when the States and the public are asking for bureaucracy to be reduced. For all of the above reasons, the Committee does not support the proposition.