PPC Minutes 7th February 2007

PH/vnl/46  135

PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (36th Meeting)

7th February 2007

PART A

All members were present, with the exception of Deputy G.C.L. Baudains, from whom apologies had been received and Senator S. Syvret. Deputy C.H. Egré was not present for Items B4 and B5.

Connétable D.F. Gray of St. Clement - Chairman Senator M.E. Vibert

Connétable K.A. Le Brun of St. Mary

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

Mrs. D. Abbot-McGuire, Finance and Administration Manager (for a time) Miss P. Horton, Clerk to the Privileges and Procedures Committee

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

Minutes. A1. The Minutes of the meetings held on 10th January 2007 (Part A and Part B)

and 24th January 2007 (Part A only), having been previously circulated, were taken as read and were confirmed.

Budget - carry A2. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A10 of 10th January 2007, forward to 2007. received and considered a report dated 30th January 2007, prepared by Mrs. D. 422/10/1(82) Abbot-McGuire,  Finance  and  Administration  Manager,  in  connexion  with  its Encl. proposed carry forward budget to 2007.

The Committee recalled that the States had approved a carry forward of £188,000 for the operation of the fifth Scrutiny Panel and there had been certain items of unforeseen expenditure, such as the MORI poll to be undertaken in 2007 by the Committee in respect of the composition and election of the States Assembly, and the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie European Presidents' Conference, for which an offer was made to host after the 2007 budget had been finalised. The Committee had agreed that it would request to carry forward 1% of the Budget and also funding for the abovementioned unforeseen expenditure.

In this regard, the Committee noted that, in addition to the £188,000 its total carry forward amount would be £59,998 made up of the following unforeseen items -

APF - Presidents' conference £ 16,000

PPC - MORI poll unplanned expenditure £ 25,000

Office equipment £ 10,00 0 Commission Amicale - Bureau de Jersey £  8,99  8

The Committee was advised that it had been requested to provide funding to assist the Bureau de Jersey with an unforeseen relocation expense. It was proposed that funding would be provided from the remaining unspent budget of the Commission Amicale. Approval had been received from the Commission Amicale and also the Minister for Economic Development.

The Committee, having considered the abovementioned, accordingly approved the same. The Finance and Administration Manager was directed to take the necessary action.

On a related matter, the Committee approved Mrs. Denise Abbot-McGuire, Finance and Administration Manager, as authorised signatory for the payment of invoices and accounts.

The Greffier of the States was directed to take the necessary action.

Composition and A3. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A6 of 10th January 2007, Election of the considered the next steps that should be taken regarding the proposed reform of the States Assembly. States Assembly.

465/1(75)

The Committee recalled that a leaflet outlining various options had been distributed to every household in the Island and three public meetings had been held on 30th January, 31st January and 1st February 2007 in order that the public could express their views on the reform of the States Assembly. A further survey of public opinion on the matter had been commissioned and was currently being conducted by Ipsos MORI and the views of States members would be gauged by means of an in Committee' discussion which was due to be held in the States on 13th February 2007.

The Committee considered the in Committee' discussion which had been deferred by the States from 30th January 2007. The Committee had intended that the States should discuss the proposals during the week when the leaflets were being distributed and the public meetings being held so that the public would be informed of members' views on the reform of government. Having noted that the results of the second MORI poll would be available during the week commencing Monday 26th February 2007, the Committee considered that it would be reasonable to hold the in Committee' discussion after the publication of the findings of the MORI poll in order that members would hopefully be provided with a clear indication of public opinion which would lead to a more informed discussion. The Committee agreed that members should be informed that it would be requesting the States to agree that the in Committee' discussion could take place on Tuesday 13th March 2007, which would allow adequate time for members to consider the findings of the MORI poll.

The Committee discussed whether members should be advised of key issues which it would like them to address during the in Committee' discussion as it was felt that this could provide an indication of whether members supported a substantial reform of the States or not. It was proposed that members could be asked to give their views on such issues as, should there be a reduction in the number of States members; did they think the Connétable s should remain in the States by virtue of their office; was it important to have States members elected on an Island-wide basis; would they like to see members elected in a number of large constituencies; should members be elected for a four year term; and, did they want a single general election day? The Committee suggested that members could be provided with an aide mémoire on the day of the in Committee' discussion advising them of the key points it would like to hear their point of view on as detailed above.

The Committee then discussed its timetable for the next steps which were necessary to progress the reform of the States and, although it was recognised that the schedule would be very tight, the Committee was nonetheless determined to meet the reform timetable and felt confident that it could do so.

The Greffier of the States was directed to take the necessary action.

Provision of A4. The Committee received and considered a report dated 29th January 2007 copying and prepared by the Greffier of the States in connexion with the provision of a copying distribution and distribution service by the States Greffe.

services by the

States Greffe. The Committee was advised that the States Greffe had a statutory duty to print and 422/1(72) distribute all official publications that were presented to the States or lodged au Encl. Greffe' in accordance with Standing Orders. However there were a number of

occasions when the States Greffe was asked to print and distribute a variety of other documents on behalf of States members and members of the public. With regard to members of the public at present the Greffe normally agreed to distribute small documents  if  the  matter  was closely  related  to  a  forthcoming  debate,  scrutiny review  or  other  matter  that  was  clearly  of  current  interest  and  importance  to members. In agreeing to circulate such material the person would be requested to produce the necessary copies of the document as it was felt that it was inappropriate to use public money to copy documents on behalf of private individuals and interest groups. The States Greffe did not offer a more general distribution service to States members on behalf of the public and anyone who wished to send a document to all members on a matter that was not related to a current issue was provided with a set of  labels  giving  members' addresses.  Requests  received  from  members  of  the public and interest groups to circulate documents in hard copy were always referred to the Greffier or Deputy Greffier and a decision was taken on whether or not the document should be circulated in the official posting taking account of size, weight and relevance.

The Committee agreed that the States Greffe should not print or photocopy items received from a member of the public for distribution; however, if enough copies of the item were supplied these could be placed in members' pigeon holes in the States building on States days. During periods when the States were not sitting it was agreed that the States Greffe should not be required to post items received from members  of  the  public.  The  Committee  noted  that  a  large  number  of communications addressed to all members were now received by e-mail and these could be forwarded to all members on request unless they were clearly of no relevance to members or contained inappropriate content.

With regard to requests from members of the States, the Committee was advised that there were occasions when quite substantial documents were submitted to the States Greffe for copying and distribution. Requests from members of the States to both copy and circulate documents to their colleagues were normally agreed even though these did, on occasion, involve significant numbers of colour pages. The Committee felt that if the item was small and the matter was clearly of current interest and importance to members it would be appropriate for the States Greffe to copy and distribute the item. However as the States Greffe's rôle was to be of service to all members it was considered that it could be difficult, and could appear inappropriate,  for  the  Greffier  to  refuse  to  provide  appropriate  assistance  for copying and distribution and it was therefore agreed that items relating to matters which were not of current interest and importance to members should be referred to the Chairman or Vice-Chairman for the final decision.

States IT co- A5. The Committee considered a suggestion from Deputy P.V.F. Le Claire that it ordinator. could be useful to appoint a dedicated IT co-ordinator for all States members. 1240/9/1(73)

The Committee was advised that recently States members had been experiencing difficulties accessing their gov.je e-mails and Deputy Le Claire had suggested that appointing a dedicated IT co-ordinator would improve communications between Information  Services  support  staff  and  States  members  and  would  ensure  that members' IT needs would be addressed quickly and efficiently in the future.

The Committee, having considered the issue, felt that the extent of the problems currently being experienced by States members could mean that any IT co-ordinator it appointed would be inundated with requests for help but would not be able to resolve them any more easily. The Committee agreed that members should continue to contact Lynn Cowley at Information Services with any problems they encountered.

The Committee Clerk was requested to advise Deputy Le Claire of its decision. Matters for A6. T he Committee noted the following matters for information -

information.

1. co rrespondence, dated 5th January 2007, sent to Mr. Greg Winch, Jersey Post, regarding the distribution of a leaflet to every domestic household;
2. correspondence, dated 16th January 2007, sent to Deputy R.C. Duhamel, President, Chairmen's Committee regarding the Minimum Lodging Period for Scrutiny Propositions;
3. correspondence, dated 16th January 2007, sent to Deputy R.C. Duhamel, President, Chairmen's Committee regarding Scrutiny - Increased Time For Scrutiny;
4. correspondence, dated 16th January 2007, sent to Deputy R.C. Duhamel, President, Chairmen's Committee regarding the Rôle of Advisers at Scrutiny Panel Hearings; and
5. cor respondence, dated 25th January 2007, sent to all Members of the States regarding the Composition and election of the States Assembly - in Committee meeting of the States.