PPC Minutes 18th May 2010

A-CH/SC/146  236

PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (64th Meeting)

18th May 2010

PART A

All members were present, with the exception of Connétable J. Gallichan of St. Mary, Chairman, and Deputy M.R. Higgins, from whom apologies had been received.

Deputy C.H. Egré (acting Chairman) Senator B.I. Le Marquand

Connétable P.F.M. Hanning of St. Saviour Deputy J.B. Fox

Deputy J.A. Martin

In attendance -

M.N. de la Haye, Greffier of the States

Miss A-C. Heuston, 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  of  27th  and  29th  April  2010,  having  been previously circulated, were taken as read and were confirmed.

Media Working A2.  The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A7 of 16th March 2010, Party. received correspondence dated 4th May 2010 from the President of the Chairmen's 1240/10(36) Committee in connexion with the report of the Media Working Party.

The Committee recalled that it had forwarded the report of the Working Party to the Chairmen's Committee for consideration following its meeting on 16th March 2010, inviting  comments  in  early  course.  The  Chairmen's  Committee  had  provided individual Panel comments and had advised that it would support the live audio-web- streaming of scrutiny hearings, but not of scrutiny meetings. The Committee noted the comments of the individual panels in respect of the report, however, considered that these were somewhat contradictory and it was not clear what the overall view of scrutiny was on the recommendations. The Committee was also disappointed to note that the Chairmen's Committee had not formed a consensus view in respect of the Working  Party's  recommendation to introduce a  Code  of  Conduct  which  would permit the visual or audio recording of States meetings and hearings by accredited media organisations only, when a similar suggestion had originally been raised by the Chairmen's Committee in correspondence addressed to the Privileges and Procedures Committee dated 29th June 2009 (Minute No. A3 of the Committee's meeting of 3rd July 2009 refers).

It was accordingly agreed that the Vice Chairman would write to the President of the Chairmen's Committee to ask for a collective view in respect of the recommendation to introduce a Code of Conduct prior to the matter being considered any further by the Committee.

The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action.

States Business A3.  The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A5 of 26th January 2010, Organisation received the final report of the States Business Organisation Sub-Group.

Sub-Group.

465/1(136) The Committee noted the content of the report, including the research, submissions

and conclusions contained therein, and discussed the findings with the Chairman of the Sub-Group, Deputy C.H. Egré. The group had been established in response to concerns regarding the volume of States business, the amount of time that States members needed to devote to it, and the impact this was having upon members' other responsibilities. Having spoken to, and received written submissions from, numerous States  members,  the  Sub-Group  had  concluded  that  the  problems  could  not  be resolved through minor alterations to the running of States business. Instead, it had agreed that the rise in the number of questions and the length of States sittings, for example, were merely symptoms of a wider problem. It had accordingly agreed to recommend to the Privileges and Procedures Committee that the current system of government be reviewed.

Having discussed the findings, the Committee decided to present the report to the States to stimulate discussion. The Committee believed it was important for the Council of Ministers, the Chairmen's Committee and individual members to consider whether or not a review of the current system of government would be appropriate to overcome the issues that had been identified. Deputy J.B. Fox advised that he and Connétable J.M. Réfault of St. Peter had attended a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in the Isle of Man and wished to discuss the Isle of Man system of government with the Committee as an example of how a more inclusive system could operate in a small jurisdiction. It was agreed that discussions in this respect could be held at a future meeting  when  the Committee  would give full consideration to the Sub-Group's recommendations.

It was agreed that a foreword to the report should be drafted and circulated for approval.  The  Committee  would  then  present  the  report  of  the  States  Business Organisation Sub-Group to the States in the R' series.

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

Information A4.  The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A4 of 2nd March 2010, technology received correspondence from the Director of Information Services, Mr. N. Wells, provision for dated  10th  and  13th  May  2010  in  connexion  with  the  provision  of  information States members. technology for States members.

1240/9/1(137)

871(11) The Committee recalled that the Chairman had written to Mr. Wells on 4th March

2010  regarding  the  possible  centralised  provision  of  BlackBerries  for  all  States members. Mr. Wells advised that monthly invoices for BlackBerries could be sent by the provider directly to each holder for settlement and charges which the holder wished to be reimbursed for could then be claimed back. Any recurring contract cost could be either charged centrally or included in the monthly invoice to each holder for the member to pay and reclaim. It was recommended that any central charge be bundled and recovered in the monthly invoice.

Mr. Wells also wished to seek the views of the Committee in respect of the provision of broadband for States members. It was noted that the Department paid for States members to have a 2 megabyte broadband connection to enable them to access the internet and connect to the States network from home. However, one States member used his own broadband connection, and another member had been provided upon request with a more expensive provision which offered a fixed internet protocol address and faster broadband. Two outstanding requests had also been received from members by the Department to increase their broadband connection from 2 megabytes to 8 megabytes. The total annual cost for the provision of broadband to States members was £11,225.88 (consisting 50 connections at £17.99 per month, and one at £35.99). The Committee discussed the need for parity in the provision of information technology services and agreed to discuss the matter with Mr. Wells. The Committee also recalled that it also wished to look into the possible use by States members of Apple iPads (Minute Nos. A11 of 4th April and A2 of 9th February 2010 refer).

It was agreed that Mr. Wells should be invited to attend a meeting of the Committee in early course to discuss each of the aforementioned areas.

The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action. Matters for A6. The Committee noted the following matters for information:

information.

1. c orrespondencedated 1st May2010 from Mr. B.R. Cooperinconnexion with the review ofthe roles ofCrown Officers. TheCommittee, with reference to its MinuteNo.A8 of 27thApril 2010, requested the Vice Chairman towritetoMr.Cooper to advise him that the contentof the correspondence had been noted;
2. correspondence dated 15th April 2010 from Deputy P.J. Rondel, Chairman, EnvironmentPanel,inconnexion with the supplyof bottled waterto the States Building and MorierHouse,and a subsequente-mail from Scrutiny Officer,Mr.M.Haden, asking the Committee todefer consideration of the item as the Panelwished to undertake a review of the issuesin respect of bottled watersupplies;
3. correspondence from the Chairman to Lord R. Carswell, Chairman, Review of the Roles of the CrownOfficers,dated 4th May2010in response to Lord Carswell's letter of 19th April 2010 regarding the developmentof the States of Jersey Law 2005 (Minute No.A8of the Committee's meetingof 27th April2010 refers); and
4. D eputy J.B. Foxadvised that an increasing numberofcarswerebeing parked in theRoyalSquare and itwas agreed that the matter shouldbe looked into.