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Strategy Plan - approval by the States (P.55-2006) – comments

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STATES OF JERSEY

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STRATEGY PLAN: APPROVAL BY THE STATES (P.55/2006) COMMENTS

Presented to the States on 12th June 2006 by the Council of Ministers

STATES GREFFE

COMMENTS

The States of Jersey Law 2005 sets out the framework within which ministerial government operates. The agreement of the Council of Ministers' common strategic policy, as set out in Article 18(2)(e), is an integral part of this, and without it, the States lacks direction.

The Strategic Plan will serve to improve the democratic process for both States members and the electorate. The States need to have a shared vision of the direction that the Island should be moving in over the next 3 to 5 years. The Strategic Plan provides this, along with the financial and policy framework in which the Council of Ministers will operate during its term of office.

Jersey does not have party politics; therefore the Strategic Plan is not a manifesto for the Council of Ministers, but rather an agenda for the States as a whole.

The report and proposition on the Machinery of Government: Proposed Reforms' (P.122/2001) makes it clear that the wishes of the States are paramount. The Strategic Plan will set the broad framework of policies and programmes that the Council of Ministers, and indeed the States, will follow. Each year the Council will bring forward an annual business plan which will set out in detail the proposed use of resources and programmes for the coming year. In addition, any new legislation and major policy proposals will still have to be referred to the States Assembly for a decision.

In conclusion, therefore, the Council of Ministers does not agree with the proposal that the Strategic Plan should simply be presented for information, but should instead be submitted to the States for a full debate which will set the future direction for the Council of Ministers' work.