Machinery of Government: committee system (P.157/2013) – comments.

STATES OF JERSEY

MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT: COMMITTEE SYSTEM (P.157/2013) – COMMENTS

Presented to the States on 31st December 2013 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

2013   Price code: A  P.157 Com.

COMMENTS

The Privileges and Procedures Committee does not support the proposition of Deputy G.C.L. Baudains of St. Clement .

The structure of government in Jersey was amended in 2005 in response to the report of  the  Review  Panel  on  the  Machinery  of  Government  in  Jersey  (the  Clothier Report'), which was published in December 2000. The report identified many defects in  the  existing  structure  and  functioning  of  the  States  and  its  Committees'  and recommended  that  the  Committee  system  be  replaced  by  a  ministerial system  of government. The report pointed out that government by committees [was] rare in a national jurisdiction' and noted that complaints about the Committee system were recurrent and manifold'. The report considered that: Each Committee [was] a virtual law unto itself, with no obligation to ensure that its decisions [were] consistent with a policy already agreed upon by the States or by other Committees'. It found that decisions  were  taken  by  a  small  number  of  Committee  members,  and  that  other members were passengers', perhaps voluntarily, or perhaps because they [were] starved of the information necessary for them to make informed decisions, or perhaps because they [were] overwhelmed by the masses of paperwork prepared for their meetings'.

Since the introduction of ministerial government, there have been various calls for the review of aspects of its operation. In February 2012, the Committee, as previously constituted, established the Machinery of Government Sub-Committee to review the current structure. The Sub-Committee was chaired by Deputy M. Tadier of St. Brelade and included Deputy Baudains among its membership. The Sub-Committee undertook consultation with States members and members of the Corporate Management Board and reported in its Interim Report (see R.39/2013) that –

"Ministerial government seems to have had positive consequences. High-level focus of strategic policy is thought to have improved, and the capacity of the executive to get things done is believed to have increased markedly (although this is not a unanimous view). The system is also described as being better suited  to  the  development  of  Jersey's  international  identity  and  external relations generally."

The  Sub-Committee  did,  however,  identify  a  belief  among  stakeholders  that  the existing system required further reform in order to function effectively, and included a series of recommendations for change in its final report (see R.105/2013). The Sub- Committee identified that the machinery of government in Jersey should uphold the following key principles –

• accountability;
• sound corporate governance;
• objectivity;
• prudence; and
• transparency.

It considered that the systems and processes that were in place at the present time did not align well with the core principles, and that the ministerial system was not working as well as it might be expected to. The Sub-Committee felt that addressing the lack of alignment  would improve  public  confidence in the  States,  and could  bring about

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greater voter engagement. The Sub-Committee found that the majority of members thought that the current system should be improved in order to give the modified ministerial system  a  chance to  work  to achieve  its  potential.  Only  a  minority  of members favoured abandoning the current system and reverting to a committee-based structure. The Sub-Committee proposed a series of amendments to the machinery of government and, on 9th October 2013, the States held an in Committee' debate on the Sub-Committee's recommendations.

Following the debate, a Steering Group chaired by Deputy J.M. Maçon of St. Saviour , with Deputy M. Tadier of St. Brelade , Deputy T.A. Vallois of St. Saviour and the Chief  Minister,  Senator  I.J. Gorst ,  as  members,  was  established  to  take  forward consideration of the recommendations. The Steering Group has taken into account the

comments of members during the in Committee' debate, and has consulted with the Privileges and Procedures Committee, the Chairmen's Committee, Scrutiny Panels and the Council of Ministers in respect of the recommendations. The Group is now at the stage of considering possible amendments to the States of Jersey Law 2005, which will be referred back to the Privileges and Procedures Committee for consideration in early course.

The Committee does not believe that it would be appropriate at this late juncture to begin  public  consultation  and  a  further  review  process  regarding  the  possible implementation of a Committee system of government. Should the proposed public consultation  take  place,  followed  by  the  development  of  recommendations  for revisions to the machinery of government, it would not be possible for any revised system to be established before the next elections, as there would be insufficient time for  amendments  to  the  States  of  Jersey  Law  2005  to  be  drafted,  adopted  and sanctioned by the Privy Council. In addition, the Committee considers that the internal workings of government are a matter for the States Assembly to determine, given that there is a requirement for in-depth knowledge of the processes and procedures that are required to enable the day-to-day running of government. Also, having taken into account  the  findings  of  the  Machinery  of  Government  Sub-Committee  during  its consultation period, the Committee is of the view that a majority of members would not be in support of reverting to a revised version of the Committee system.

Holding  another  consultative  review  of  Committee  systems  elsewhere  would  be unlikely to result in public engagement at a time when most people consider that the States spends too much time focussing upon these matters. The Committee considers that it is the role of the States to resolve any issues which arise in respect of its internal procedures, and that this process is in-train with amendments to the States of Jersey Law 2005 scheduled to come before the States in 2014.

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