PPC Minutes 9th January 2004

MH/KAK/29  159

PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (27th Meeting)

9th January 2004

PART A

All members were present, with the exception of Deputy J-A. Bridge, from whom apologies had been received.

Senator C.G.P. Lakeman Connétable D.F. Gray Deputy F.J. Hill, B.E.M. Deputy C.J. Scott - Warr en Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier Deputy J.A. Bernstein

In attendance -

M.N. de la Haye, Greffier of the States Mrs. J. Marshall, Senior Executive Officer Miss F. Agnès, Executive Officer

M.P. Haden, Committee Clerk.

Note: The Minutes of this meeting comprise Part A and Part B.

Minutes A1.  The Minutes of the meetings held on 12th and 18th December 2003, having

been previously circulated, were taken as read and were confirmed.

Simultaneous A2.  The Committee, with reference to its Act No. A11 (c) of 14th November 2003, Electronic received  an  oral  report  from  the  Executive  Officer  regarding  a  delay  in  the Voting. installation of the simultaneous electronic voting system for the States Assembly. 1240/22(8)

The  Committee  was  advised  that,  due  to  an  oversight  by  the  Public  Services E.P.S.C.(2) Department, the required permission for internal alterations to a designated Site of Ex.Off. Special Interest had not been sought in time for the work to be carried out, as

expected during the Christmas recess. Consequently, it was not expected that the

system would now be installed until the beginning of March 2004.

The Committee requested that a memorandum be sent to all States members advising them of the delay. It also wished to formally express to the Environment and Public Services Committee its disappointment in this state of affairs. In addition, it recalled that it had not yet been possible to conclude a satisfactory a Service Level Agreement for users of the States Building. The Committee felt that such matters reflected badly on the States and the way it conducted its business.

The Greffier of the States was directed to send a copy of this Act to the Environment and Public Services Committee.

Simultaneous A3.  The Committee received a report from the Greffier of the States regarding the Electronic changes  required  to  be  made  to  Standing  Orders  to  enable  the  introduction  of Voting. Simultaneous Electronic Voting.

1240/22(8)

The Committee was requested to consider the following matters - Ex.Off.

1. w  hether members in their designated seat at the pointofvoting should be required torecord a vote oranabstention, or might they simplydecide not to push any button;
2. h owtodeal with the situation of a vote that wassubsequentlyshownto be flawedbecauseof a technical fault; and
3. w  hether there should be a defined period of time in whichmemberswere allowed to return to their designated seats before a vote was taken.

The Committee noted the first draft of the amendment to Standing Orders and agreed to give the matter further consideration at its next meeting.

Official Report of A4.  The Committee, with reference to its Act No. A2 of 30th May 2003, considered the States its handling of the forthcoming States debate on the Official Report of the States Assembly and its Assembly and its Committees (Hansard') (P.81/2003) for which Deputy F.J. Hill, Committees B.E.M. was to act as rapporteur.

(Hansard') -

1240/10/1(1) The Committee noted the views of the Bailiff on the question of editing the report. In

his view, light editing to remove obvious errors and incomprehensible phrases was Ex.Off. appropriate. The published record of States debates would become a shopfront of the

States Assembly throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. It was noted that the

transcript  of  the  Les  Pas  debate  in  the  States,  which  had  been  produced  in  an

absolutely literal fashion without editing, had, in several instances, been difficult to

read. The Committee was prepared to support the light editing' approach.

The Committee was advised that the two Committee Rooms in the States Building would  be  wired  for  recording,  with  the  cost  initially  being  borne  from  the Committee's  budget. If the  States  approved  P.81/2003, it  was  expected  that  the Committee  would  be  reimbursed  for  the  expenditure.  Otherwise  the  cost  would remain with the Committee.

The Committee was advised that, should the question of cost be raised in the States debate, it should be made clear that there appeared to be no cheaper, realistic option to that proposed in P.81/2003.

Code Of Practice A5.  The Committee, with reference to its Act No. A4 of 12th December 2003, On Public Access considered its draft comments on the Code Of Practice On Public Access To Official To Official Information: Register of Reports (P.193/2003).

Information:

Register of The Committee agreed that it was important to get a clear definition of the term Reports report' in  order  to  establish  the  level  of  report  required  to  be  included  in  the (P.196/2003) - proposed register.

comments

955(32) The Committee commended the concept of a central register of reports, which it felt

would  contribute  to  open  government.  It  felt,  however,  that  more  thought  was Ex.Off. required into the means by which the public would gain access to the reports listed on Pub.Ed. the register.

States (2)

The Committee approved the draft comment, subject to certain revisions put forward by the President.

The Committee then considered an amendment to P.196/2003. It noted that Deputy Troy 's proposition requested the States to agree that the proposed central register should be established with effect from 1st March 2004'. The Committee was of the opinion that this deadline was unrealistic. It believed that three months from the date the proposition was accepted would be a more realistic target to enable the necessary systems to be put in place. The Committee requested that an amendment be drafted accordingly.

On a related matter, the Committee noted correspondence between the President and Mr. J. Avery in relation to public access to States Consultants' reports. The President said that he had been unable to contact Mr. Avery personally. The Committee agreed to give Mr. Avery's suggestions further consideration.

Code of Practice A6.  The Committee, with reference to its Act No. A4 of 28th November 2003, on Public Access noted an amendment, lodged au Greffe' by Senator S. Syvret, to its proposition To Official Code of Practice on Public Access To Official Information: measures to improve Information: implementation (P.164/2003).

measures to

improve The Committee was of the opinion that the amendment merely strengthened implement-ation measures already included in its own proposition and agreed to accept Senator (P.164/2003) Syvret's amendment.

955(32)

The  Committee  agreed  to  a  request  from   Deputy  P.N.   Troy  that  the  debate  on Ex.Off. proposition P.164/2003 should transferred to 3rd February 2004 to coincide with the Pub.Ed. debate on P.196/2003.

States (2)

Shadow Scrutiny: A7.  The Committee received a report, dated 2nd January 2003, from the Greffier of arrangements and the States regarding the proposed procedure for the election of the Shadow Scrutiny approval of Chairmen.

Chairman and

members The Committee agreed -

(P.186/2003)

502/1(6) (a) that  the  elections  would  take  place  on  the  date  of  the  debate  on

P.186/2003;

Ex.Off.

Bailiff (b)  t hat the procedure should mirror the current procedure for the election of

Committee Presidents, as set out in Standing Order 41. Members would be invited to vote for two candidates, with the top two being elected.

The Greffier of the States was requested to discuss the procedure with the Bailiff .

States of Jersey A8.  The Committee, with reference to its Act No. A5 of 28th November 2003 and Law - final draft. with H.M. Attorney General in attendance, considered the final draft of the new 450/1(1) States of Jersey Law.

Ex.Off. The Committee noted that the Human Resources Sub-Committee of the Policy and A.G. Resources Committee had been requested to discuss the matter of disqualification of

States  employees  for  election.  It  also  noted  the  suggestion  that  the  matter  of qualification  and  disqualification  should  focus  on  the  individual's  seniority,  by reference to his or her grade, rather than on the kind of work undertaken.

The Committee discussed with the Attorney General the implications of Article 30 on the Duty to refer certain matters to the States. The Committee requested clarification whether it had any genuine discretion to revise or comment on United Kingdom legislation, or Orders in Council, being extended to the Island. The Committee was advised that Article 30 was a protective mechanism which indicated the Island's constitutional right to have the opportunity to comment, as appropriate, on such legislation. It was acknowledged that, sometimes, legislation was enacted with very short notice for good reason. However, the Article was a reminder that legislation should not be registered in the Royal Court without due reference to the States. The Committee  felt  that  it  was  important  that  States  members  received  appropriate briefing on such legislation. It was also mindful that a number of States members were concerned about the volume of legislation coming from the European Union over which the Island appeared to have little or no control. It was advised that the Island was obliged for commercial reasons to comply with regulations regarding trade in goods. With regard to international conventions the policy now applied by the Law Officers' Department was that Treaties and Conventions should not be ratified on behalf of the Island unless its own domestic laws were adequate to fulfil the requirements of such conventions.

The Committee noted that the previous article on the Vote of No Confidence had been removed from the final draft. It was agreed that States members should be made aware of the reasons for this alteration from the agreed position in the States debate on P.149/2002 on the election and removal of ministers and votes of no confidence in ministers.

The  Committee  approved  the  draft  Law  and  requested  that  it  be  sent  for consideration to the Department of Constitutional Affairs in the usual way. It also  requested  that  the  draft  Law  be  distributed  to  States  members,  Chief Officers and the media and agreed to invite members to a presentation on the draft Law on 23rd January 2003, commencing at 11 a.m.

The Committee wished to record its thanks to the Law Draftsman and the Law Officers Department for their work in preparing the draft Law.

Administrative A9.  The Committee, with reference to its Act No. A5 of 14th November 2003, and Appeals with H.M. Attorney General in attendance, received a draft discussion document, System/Ombudsman prepared by the Greffier of the States regarding proposals to improve the current - draft discussion Administrative Appeals system. document.

1386/2(71) The Committee noted that in the United Kingdom only approximately 21 per cent of 465/1(30) complainants  obtained  remedies  as  a  result  of  going  to  the  local  Government

Ombudsman. However, it was of the opinion that the system was useful in that it allowed complainants the opportunity to have their case heard in public. In addition, it appeared that in a large number of cases the findings of the Ombudsman were implemented. The weakness of the current system in Jersey was that the findings of the Board of Administrative Appeals were too often ignored.

The Attorney General raised the question whether attention should be drawn in paragraph 53 to the ability of individual States members to force a States debate on Committee decisions. He suggested that this appeared to be inconsistent with the changes to the machinery of government which promoted the distinction between Executive decision-making and States policy-making roles.

The Committee agreed that the draft discussion document addressed the main areas of concern in relation to the current system. It agreed to send the draft document to the Chairman and Members of the Administrative Appeals Panel for comment and to invite  the members of the Panel to the next Committee meeting  to discuss  the proposals.

Matters for A10.  The Committee noted the following matters for information -

information/ Acts

of other (a)  a letter, dated 22nd December 2003, addressed to all States members Committees. from the President of the Policy and Resources Committee in relation to

the proposed Committee of Inquiry into the circumstances leading to the States' decision to reach an agreement with Les Pas Holdings over the claim to the St. Helier foreshore;

2. a copy of correspondence,dated 8th January 2004, from Deputy G.C.L. Baudains in response to the above letter;
3. correspondence, dated 30th December 2003, from Mr. B. Cooper in relation to the Committeeof Inquiry. The Committee wasadvised that the Attorney General had already written to Mr.Cooper regarding the issues he had raised. Itwas agreed that this wasnot a matter for the Committee and that no action would be taken in this regard;
4. Act  No. A7 of the Finance and Economics  Committee of the  10th December2003inconnexion with Shadow Public AccountsCommittee terms of reference;
5. Act  No. A4 of the Economic Development Committee of the  26th November 2003 in connexion with  the  Working Party on the ArrangementofPublicBusiness;
6. A ct No.A5of the Employmentand Social Security Committee of the 11th December 2003 inconnexion with States MembersRemuneration: contribution liability;
7. A  ct No.A6ofthe Policy & Resources Committee of the 18thDecember 2003  in connexion with  the  Code of Practice  on Public  Access to Information: measures to improveimplementation;
8. Act  No. A7 of the  Policy and  Resources Committee of the 18th December 2003 in connexion with  the  Shadow Public Accounts Committee:Termsof Reference.
9. N otes andActionPoints from the inauguralmeetingof the Working Party on the OrganisationofPublicBusiness, held on 17th December 2003.

Meetings 2004. A11.  The Committee recalled that it had agreed to meet on a three weekly cycle in

2004.  The  Senior  Executive  Officer  was  requested  to  circulate  the  schedule  of meeting dates.

The Committee confirmed the date of its next meeting to be held on Friday 30th January commencing at 11 a.m. in the Halkett Room, Morier House.