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PH/PH/364 1
PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (1st Meeting)
19th December 2005
PART A
All members were present, with the exception of Deputy G.C.L. Baudains, from whom apologies had been received.
Connétable D.F. Gray - Chairman Senator S. Syvret
Senator M.E. Vibert
Connétable K.A. le Brun
Deputy C.H. Egré
Deputy J. Gallichan
In attendance -
M.N. de la Haye, Greffier of the States
Mrs. A.H. Harris , Deputy Greffier of the States
Miss P. Horton, Clerk to the Privileges and Procedures Commission.
Note: The Minutes of this meeting comprise Part A only.
Welcome. A1. The Chairman welcomed the Committee members to the first meeting of the
Privileges and Procedures Committee under the new form of Government.
Vice-Chairman. A2. The Committee agreed that Deputy C.H. Egré should be appointed as Vice- 465/1(68) Chairman of the Privileges and Procedures Committee.
Freedom of A3. The Committee received and considered a letter from H.M. Attorney General, Information dated 12th December 2005, in connexion with the pending Freedom of Information legislation - letter legislation.
from H.M.
Attorney General. The Committee noted that the Attorney General had expressed concern at what was 955(37) perceived as a lack of consultation regarding the draft legislation. However, the
Committee recalled that the Attorney General had in fact attended meetings of the Privileges and Procedures Committee, as previously constituted, when the draft legislation had been discussed. The Committee agreed that the Attorney General would be consulted further regarding the draft legislation and agreed that the Chairman should respond to the letter.
Future work A4. The Committee discussed the work programme it would follow in the coming programme. months.
465/1(69)
The Committee agreed that Senator S. Syvret should deal with the Freedom of Information legislation and further agreed that it would no longer be necessary for Mr. P.G.H. Baker to act as Instructing Officer for the matter. It was noted that a first draft of the Freedom of Information legislation would be made available to the Committee shortly. The Chairman, together with Deputy J. Gallichan, would assume responsibility for Electoral Reform. The Committee noted that law drafting time would be required in respect of the aforementioned. The Committee further agreed that it would like to investigate postal voting and limiting the amount of money a candidate could spend on an election campaign.
The Committee considered the procedure for the election of Chief Minister, Ministers and Scrutiny Chairmen and, in particular, discussed whether the elections for Ministers and Scrutiny Chairmen should be held over several days rather than all on the same day. This would allow Members time to consider whether they would wish to be nominated for a Scrutiny Chairmanship if they were unsuccessful in the Ministerial elections. The Committee agreed that it would be beneficial to seek the views of all States Members by means of a questionnaire in connexion with the above.
The Committee also discussed the States Members Remuneration Review Body and expressed concern that the body was unable to investigate such issues as the establishment of a pension fund for States Members and also severance pay for those members not re-elected. It was agreed that this was a matter which should be included in the work programme.
On a related matter, the Committee requested that a leaflet be produced outlining the proper complaints procedure for complaints against States members to ensure that the procedure was clear to members of the public.
The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action.
Privileges and A5. The Committee agreed the following schedule of dates for its meetings Procedures throughout 2006. It was noted that the Committee would meet monthly at 9.30 a.m. Committee - on a Wednesday in the Le Capelain Room, States Building.
future meeting
dates. 11th January
465/1(70) 8th February
8th March
5th April
3rd May
31st May
28th June
26th July
23rd August
20th September
18th October
15th November
13th December.