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STATES OF JERSEY
REPORTING ON MINISTERIAL AFFAIRS (P.71/2024) – COMMENTS
Presented to the States on 6th December 2024 by the Council of Ministers
STATES GREFFE
2024 P.71 Com.
COMMENTS
While the Council of Ministers accept the principle, the practicalities of implementing P.71/2024 would benefit from further consideration, especially in relation to the publication of external meetings. The timescales in the proposition does not afford sufficient time to do this.
As such, Ministers would like to work with the Privileges and Procedures Committee and the Machinery of Government sub-Committee, with a view to delivering proposals for consideration in 2025.
Part (a): Details of External Meetings
The accessibility and proximity of 49 elected members to their electorate is one of the strengths of our political system. It allows constituents and citizens direct and regular access should they wish, and we believe this is valued.
Jersey's Assembly also provides considerable opportunity to question and challenge Ministers on their decisions and actions.
This is not an argument against further transparency, but rather an argument in favour of preserving the accessibility and proximity of our existing political system, which is valued by Islanders, and to be wary about importing practices developed in larger jurisdictions.
We also need to be mindful of incurring additional administrative costs and impacting the conduct of ministerial business, including the preparedness of organisations to meet with Ministers formally, especially if that involves disclosing the attendees.
The proposition is also unclear on several points, for example:
• Whether external meetings are taken to include meetings external to the Minister's department, or the government more generally, or external to Jersey, and the treatment of meetings with constituents.
• Whether reporting should include "meetings" that were not pre-arranged, for example, calls from organisations, or public events where discussions touched upon official business.
Related to this are the obvious data protection considerations, for example, do Ministers need to disclose before every meeting that it is subject to publication, including who attended and the nature of the meeting.
Any member of the public may also at any time make a specific request under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 ("FOI Law") to be provided with a Minister or Assistant Minister's diary, at which point factors such as confidentiality can be considered with specific reference to the meetings that took place. For example, under the FOI Law the names of junior officials are not disclosed.
In the report accompanying the proposition, Deputy Moore also refers to publishing information related to professional activities, implying that this is distinct from ministerial business. If public servants produced information related to non-ministerial
business, this would be in contravention of the Ministerial Code as public servants should not support Ministers with any business not related to executive matters. [1]
Deputy Moore also states that "there is a level of public interest in the activities and engagements of elected representatives." However, the proposition restricts the scope of the proposition to the Executive, which numbers only 21 of the 49 Members of the States.
The activity of other States Members, both in an executive and non-executive capacity, for example, Scrutiny Chairs, is, assumedly, of similar importance and public interest. In the interests of transparency and openness, the public may want to know the activity of all their elected representatives.
The proposition does not provide sufficient time for all these matters to be considered. It requires Ministers to implement any new arrangements by 1st January 2025.
Considering all these matters, the Council of Ministers is of the view that working with the Privileges and Procedures Machinery of Government Sub-Committee would be beneficial, providing due consideration and an appropriate level of attention.
For the above reasons, the Council of Ministers do not support part (a) of the proposition at this time.
Part (b): Off-Island Travel
The government already publishes information relating to off-island travel, however not at the frequency that would be required by the proposition, if adopted.
Going forward, the Council of Ministers have agreed to publish their individual travel data on a quarterly basis, if not sooner, via the Ministerial Decision process.
Provisional travel data for 2024 available at time of writing is appended to this Comment. This will be published in January 2025 for the whole of 2024. The 2023 report, covering the period of the previous government, will also be published for good governance, openness, and transparency.
Travel Data: January to November 2024
Event | Traveller | Destination | Departure Date | Return Date | Total Cost |
Engagements with UK Ministers, MPs, High Commissioners and Ambassadors | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 05/02/2024 | 05/02/2024 | £239.38 |
Meetings with French Ministers | Deputy Kirsten Morel | Paris | 12/02/2024 | 14/02/2024 | £1,125.76 |
Engagements with UK Ministers, MPs, High Commissioners and Ambassadors | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 18/02/2024 | 19/02/2024 | £521.37 |
Meeting with EU Commissioner for Justice to discuss data security | Deputy Moz Scott | Brussels | 03/03/2024 | 05/03/2024 | £707.91 |
Engagements with UK Ministers, MPs, High Commissioners and Ambassadors | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 12/03/2024 | 15/03/2024 | £913.84 |
International Monetary Fund/World Bank Spring Meeting | Deputy Ian Gorst | United States | 16/04/2024 | 23/04/2024 | £5,366.32 |
Meeting with President of Brittany | Deputy Kirsten Morel | St Malo | 19/04/2024 | 19/04/2024 | £77.50 |
Engagements with UK Ministers, MPs, High Commissioners and Ambassadors | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 28/04/2024 | 29/04/2024 | £538.68 |
Event | Traveller | Destination | Departure Date | Return Date | Total Cost |
Channel Islands Liberation Day Reception at Westminster | Deputy Kirsten Morel | London | 08/05/2024 | 09/05/2024 | £397.38 |
Channel Islands Liberation Day Event | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 08/05/2024 | 09/05/2024 | £372.28 |
Channel Islands Liberation Day Event | Deputy Elaine Millar | London | 08/05/2024 | 09/05/2024 | £368.28 |
Qatar Economic Forum | Deputy Elaine Millar | Doha, State of Qatar | 13/05/2024 | 16/05/2024 | £3,599.68 |
Meetings with French Minister and European Commissioners, Delegations and Representatives | Deputy Ian Gorst | Brussels & Paris | 13/05/2024 | 16/05/2024 | £877.15 |
Meeting with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and a presentation at Jersey Society | Deputy Carolyn Labey | London | 15/05/2024 | 19/05/2024 | £817.76 |
D-Day 80 Commemoratio ns | Deputy Ian Gorst | Normandy | 04/06/2024 | 08/06/2024 | £496.01 |
Guernsey's Violence Against Women and Girls Symposium | Deputy Mary Le Hegarat | Guernsey | 12/06/2024 | 12/06/2024 | £164.98 |
Health and Social Care - Guernsey Meeting | Deputy Tom Binet | Guernsey | 17/06/2024 | 17/06/2024 | £319.96 |
British Irish Council Summit | Deputy Lyndon Farnham | Isle of Man | 19/06/2024 | 22/06/2024 | £505.45 |
British Irish Council Summit | Deputy Ian Gorst | Isle of Man | 20/06/2024 | 21/06/2024 | £602.17 |
Engagements with High Commissioners and Ambassadors | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 23/06/2024 | 24/06/2024 | £699.35 |
Event | Traveller | Destination | Departure Date | Return Date | Total Cost |
Corporate Parenting Board Visit | Connétable Richard Vibert | Kent | 26/06/2024 | 27/06/2024 | £370.98 |
Attended Canada Day event | Deputy Carolyn Labey | London | 27/06/2024 | 28/06/2024 | £443.58 |
Signing of Memorandum of Understanding with Rennes Business School | Deputy Kirsten Morel | Rennes | 01/07/2024 | 03/07/2024 | £291.20 |
Memorandum of Understanding Signing | Connétable Richard Vibert | Rennes | 01/07/2024 | 03/07/2024 | £723.45 |
Minister to attend Bastille Day | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 11/07/2024 | 11/07/2024 | £181.96 |
Minister to attend Mr Speakers' Reception for the State Opening of Parliament | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 16/07/2024 | 17/07/2024 | £603.25 |
State Opening of Parliament | Deputy Lyndon Farnham | London | 17/07/2024 | 17/07/2024 | £218.04 |
Connectivity meeting with Alderney | Deputy Kirsten Morel | Alderney | 15/08/2024 | 16/08/2024 | £343.48 |
Engagements with UK Ministers, MPs, High Commissioners and Ambassadors | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 03/09/2024 | 05/09/2024 | £943.18 |
Tax and Financial Services meetings in the United States | Deputy Ian Gorst | United States | 07/09/2024 | 11/09/2024 | £5,899.94 |
Brittany Economic Forum | Deputy Kirsten Morel | Saint Malo | 11/09/2024 | 12/09/2024 | £450.05 |
Event | Traveller | Destination | Departure Date | Return Date | Total Cost |
Liberal Democrat Party Conference | Deputy Carolyn Labey | Brighton | 14/09/2024 | 16/09/2024 | £813.56 |
Meeting with the Guernsey Committee for Health and Social Care | Deputy Tom Binet | Guernsey | 16/09/2024 | 16/09/2024 | £319.96 |
British Irish Council Summit - Housing | Deputy Sam Mézec | Belfast | 17/09/2024 | 21/09/2024 | £1,748.94 |
Political discussions on ferry procurement | Deputy Kirsten Morel | Guernsey | 18/09/2024 | 18/09/2024 | £145.45 |
Labour Party Conference | Deputy Ian Gorst | Liverpool | 20/09/2024 | 24/09/2024 | £138.98 |
Labour Party Conference | Deputy Lyndon Farnham | Liverpool | 23/09/2024 | 23/09/2024 | £238.94 |
Normandy Peace Forum | Deputy Kirsten Morel | Caen | 25/09/2024 | 28/09/2024 | £511.25 |
Conservative Party Conference | Deputy Ian Gorst | Birmingha m | 29/09/2024 | 01/10/2024 | £278.05 |
Minister to attend and support Jersey Finance Limited's Women in Leadership roadshow. | Deputy Elaine Millar | Gulf States | 07/10/2024 | 11/10/2024 | £3,276.96 |
The Geneva Conventions at 75 Conference | Deputy Carolyn Labey | London | 08/10/2024 | 10/10/2024 | £734.04 |
Normandy Summit | Deputy Ian Gorst | Normandy | 09/10/2024 | 11/10/2024 | £312.58 |
Normandy Summit | Deputy Kirsten Morel | St Malo | 09/10/2024 | 11/10/2024 | £320.70 |
Normandy Summit | Deputy Lyndon Farnham | Normandy | 09/10/2024 | 11/10/2024 | £322.50 |
Meeting with Lord Ponsonby, Ministry of Justice | Deputy Lyndon Farnham | London | 15/10/2024 | 15/10/2024 | £641.29 |
Event | Traveller | Destination | Departure Date | Return Date | Total Cost | ||
IMF/WB Autumn Meeting | Deputy Ian Gorst | United States | 23/10/2024 | 27/10/2024 | £7,568.57 | ||
Climate Conference and Inter Island Meeting | Deputy Steve Luce | Guernsey | 28/10/2024 | 29/10/2024 | £247.98 | ||
The William The Conqueror Forum | Deputy Kirsten Morel | Caen | 30/10/2024 | 01/10/2024 | £494.64 | ||
Remembrance Day Service | Deputy Mary Le Hegarat | London | 09/11/2024 | 10/11/2024 | £157.00 | ||
Engagements with High Commissioners and Ambassadors | Deputy Ian Gorst | London | 12/11/2024 | 18/11/2024 | £1,167.75 | ||
League of Municipalities Conference | Deputy Carolyn Labey | New York | 16/11/2024 | 25/11/2024 | £4,159.44 | ||
TOTAL | £52,778.90 | ||||||
Note: At the time of drafting ministerial travel costs for 2023 are calculated as £68,864 based on travel booked via the HRG system. This excludes costs incurred through a direct booking. Further analysis is taking place on the 2023 figures and any publication of a detailed breakdown will be preceded by consulting with the travellers to confirm.
Comment under Standing Order 37A
The Council of Ministers finalised their position on the 3 December, and subsequently, the Comment was drafted and given to the States Greffe shortly in advance of the deadline under Standing Order 37A, immediately following which the final ministerial approval was recorded and provided.