PPC Minutes 5th October 2010

A-CH/SC/285  301

PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (78th Meeting)

5th October 2010

PART A

All members were present, with the exception of Senator B.I. Le Marquand, from whom apologies had been received.

Connétable J. Gallichan of St. Mary , Chairman

Connétable P.F.M. Hanning of St. Saviour (not present for item Nos. A1, A2, A14 and A15(2))

Deputy J.B. Fox

Deputy J.A. Martin

Deputy C.H. Egré (not present for item Nos. A3 to A15(1) inclusive; the conclusion of item No. B1; and item Nos. B2 and B3)

Deputy M.R. Higgins

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.

Media Relations: A1. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A6 of 21st September 2010 Code of Conduct. welcomed  the Deputy  of  St.  Martin  in  connexion  with the  proposition:  Media P.100/2010 relations: Code of Conduct, lodged "au Greffe" on 15th July 2010 by the Privileges 1240/10(36) and Procedures Committee (P.100/2010 refers).

The Committee recalled that it had previously received correspondence, dated 13th September 2010, from the Deputy of St. Martin in this regard, and that the Deputy had been invited to attend the present meeting to discuss his proposed amendments to the proposition. The Deputy contended that the proposed Code of Conduct, which had  been  developed  by  the  Media  Working  Party  and  was  proposed  by  the Committee for adoption by the States, lacked innovation and would introduce a divisive media accreditation system. The Deputy informed the Committee of a series of amendments he intended to lodge to the proposition, which was scheduled for debate on 2nd  November 2010. These included a definition of "accredited media"; provision to allow members of the media to enter the States Building with the consent of a States member; provision to allow members of the public to be filmed during proceedings with their consent; and inclusion of those who adhered to the "Google Blogger Terms of Service" as members of the media who operated in a regulated  environment.  The  Committee,  having  discussed  the  matter  with  the Deputy , agreed that further work could be carried out in respect of the proposed Code of Conduct and the method through which a member of the media could achieve accreditation. It was accordingly agreed that the forthcoming debate on P.100/2010 should be deferred until 30th November 2010.

Having been thanked by the Chairman for his attendance, the Deputy of St. Martin withdrew from the meeting.

The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action.

Review of A2. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A7 of 13th April 2010 Standing Orders received a report prepared by the Greffier of the States in connexion with a review 155 to 158. of Standing Orders 155 to 158 of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey in 450/2/1(36) respect of the operation of the Code of Conduct for Elected Members.

The Committee recalled that it had agreed to undertake a review of the operation of the Code, and, in particular, the procedures used to investigate and adjudicate on any alleged breaches. The Committee noted that the report summarised some of the perceived difficulties with the current procedures; set out the procedures used at the House of Commons and the Scott ish Parliament; and summarised the outcome of a recent  review  in  Northern  Ireland.  The  Committee agreed  that  it  would  be preferable if the views of members were to be obtained prior to consideration being given to possible changes to the procedures used in Jersey. It was accordingly agreed that the report should be revised for presentation to the States in the R' series of reports.

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

Public Elections A3. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A5 of 27th July 2010 Working Party. received the recommendations of the Public Elections Working Party contained 465/7(8) within  its  review  of  the  operation  of  the  Public  Elections  (Jersey)  Law  2002

(R.94/2010 refers).

The Committee noted correspondence received from the Chairman of the Comité des   Connétable s,   Connétable  K.P.   Vibert ,  dated  6th  September  2010, correspondence dated 4th September 2010 from Jurat J.L. Le Breton on behalf of the Jurats of the Royal Court and e-mail correspondence dated 15th July 2010 from Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier. The Committee, having considered the content of the correspondence  and  the  recommendations  of  the  Working  Party, agreed  the following:

1. cand  idates should be restricted from standing for more than one office at the same time (the dissent of Deputy M.R. Higgins in respect of this decision was noted);
2. l egi  slation should be brought forward to provide that, in the event of a person  already  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  Senator  then  being nominated for another office, any second nomination would invalidate the earlier nomination, with the consequence that at the end of the nomination process a person would only be nominated to stand for one office on the same day;
3. 3 ballot boxes should be installed at each polling station, one to contain the votes for Senators, one for Connétable s and one for Deputies; and boxes should be colour-coded to match the colour of the relevant ballot paper;
4. di fferent coloured ballot papers should be used for each of the elections in order to assist with the count and the ballot paper should contain an indication at the top of which election it related to;
5. vot  ers should be asked which elections they wished to vote in and should be given the appropriate ballot papers;
6. eve  ry ballot paper should state how many candidates an elector could vote for in that particular election;
7. one  electoral list should be produced, with three columns to be marked off to indicate which election papers each voter had received;
8. t he  opening of the poll, as specified under Article 30 of the Public

Elections (Jersey) Law 2002, should remain at 8 a.m.;

9. c ons ideration should be given to the installation of additional polling booths at polling stations so that the additional time spent by voters to complete the ballot papers would not result in delay;
10. 3 counts should be made on the evening of election day in as many parishes as possible;
11. Autorisés should make arrangements with parishes for additional Adjoints to be appointed to cope with the additional workload that would arise in the counts following a single election day;
12. w here counting all votes on election night was not possible, tally sheets should be used and the Deputies and Connétable s elections should be counted and declared that evening. Any ballot boxes that were not counted should be kept securely until the following day, when the count would commence;
13. a trial Saturday election should be held at some stage after 2011 to assess whether turnout would be improved by a permanent change from Wednesday to Saturday for all elections;
14. S enators should continue to be nominated at the Town Hall and the Connétable s and Deputies in their respective Parishes on the following evening. A review of this arrangement should then be carried out after the 2011 election. (The dissent of Deputy J.A. Martin in respect of this decision was noted.);
15. t here should continue to be a cut-off date before the first nomination meeting for those registering to vote in an election in order for the parish to know who would be eligible to propose and second a candidate at the nomination meeting, and so that candidates could receive a list of electors who could be canvassed for a vote;
16. pr ocedures for referendum should be simplified and administered by parish hall staff and volunteers. Voting slips should then be taken to one location, where a centralised count would be established;
17. a ny concerns about the suitability of any particular premises used for polling should be raised with the Connétable of the parish concerned;
18. t he statutory requirements to advertise in the Jersey Gazette in respect of how an elector may obtain a postal vote or pre-poll at the Judicial Greffe should be amended so that the notices could be made more easily understandable to potential electors;
19. t he system of pre-poll voting should be opened up to all electors and the current requirement that electors must have some form of commitment which prevented them from voting on polling day should be removed;
20. t he pre-poll voting system should be simplified so that the process of placing envelopes in envelopes as though completing a postal vote would no longer be required. Instead voters would simply be asked to show their identity, complete the ballot paper and place it in the ballot paper envelope. It would then be kept in a secure place at the Judicial Greffe;
21. t he system of postal voting should be restricted to those electors who

would be out of the Island on polling day;

22. the  procedure  for  collecting  votes  from  persons  who  were  ill  or disabled (the sick vote' procedure) should be expanded to a period encompassing several days before the poll. Electors themselves, or any other person on  their behalf,  could contact  a  specified person and request that an official call at their residence to enable them to vote;
23. know  n names should be included on the ballot paper in the following simple format: SMITH John Frederick (Fred);
24. i f practical, a standardised poster should be produced centrally showing a recent photograph of each candidate to be displayed for reference in an appropriate location, outside the polling booths, at every polling station;
25. f ollowing the launch of the new gov.je website, and the monitoring of the use of initiatives such as "Have your say", consideration should be given to the introduction of e-voting in Jersey;
26. el  ectors should be made aware in advance that they should bring some form of identity document to the polling station so that this could be shown if required;
27. t he 6-month period within which an election could be challenged under Article 57 of the Law should be amended to 12 months from the date of the election;
28. i f the system of postal voting were to be restricted to those electors who were out of the Island on polling day, the Public Elections (Jersey) Law  2002  should  be  amended  to  allow  candidates  or  their representatives to transport electors to the Judicial Greffe to pre-poll or to deliver an application for a postal vote.

The Committee also gave consideration to a number of additional matters raised in correspondence from Deputy Le Hérissier, and in the Annex of Deputy M. Tadier to the Working Party's report. In respect of hustings meetings, it was agreed that an individual other than the Connétable should be selected to chair hustings meetings, unless the Connétable concerned was not a candidate in the election. It was agreed that consideration should be given to the possible introduction of a centralised electoral roll for lunchtime voting away from a voter's place of residence. The Committee agreed that it was content with the current process in respect of the rolling  electoral  register.   Deputy  Le  Hérissier  had  suggested  that  consideration should be given to the possible introduction of criminal record checks, and the Committee noted that this matter was already under consideration. The Deputy also invited the Committee to consider whether it was necessary for all modifications to the  electoral  process  to  be  made  through  primary  legislation.  The  Committee agreed that it was content with the present approach, but that it would be willing to carry out a future review in this respect.

The Greffier of the States was requested to consult with the Law Draftsman to request that the necessary amendments to the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002 be drafted for future consideration by the Committee.

Deposits for A4. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A10 of 21st September 2010 election and  Minute  No.  A3  of  the  present  meeting,  gave  further  consideration  to  the candidates. possible introduction of deposits for election candidates and revised procedures for 424/2(70) senatorial candidates.

The  Committee  recalled  that,  on  13th  July  2010,  it  had  agreed  that  a  draft proposition  should  be  prepared  in  relation  to  the  introduction  of  deposits  for candidates, and the introduction of new procedures which would require senatorial candidates  to  obtain  signatures  from  2  electors  in  each  parish  on  his  or  her nomination form. The Committee agreed that the matter should be progressed alongside the other amendments to the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002. Further research could then be conducted and a decision taken at a later date in respect of whether or not to pursue appropriate amendments to the legislation in respect of deposits for election candidates and senatorial nomination procedures.

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

Composition of A5. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A1 of 19th August 2010 the States: spring received the amendment of Deputy T.M. Pitman of St. Helier to the proposition: election and Composition of the States: spring election and move to 4 year term of office, lodged move to 4 year "au Greffe" on 23rd September 2010 (P.118/2010 Amd. refers).

term of office:

Amendment. The  Committee  noted that  the amendment  proposed  a further  reduction  in  the P.118/2010 Amd. number of Senators in the States Assembly. The Committee welcomed Deputy 1240/22/1(54) Pitman's general support of its proposals to move to a spring election and a 4 year

term of office for States members and agreed that it did not wish to comment on the further reduction in the number of Senators proposed by the Deputy , as this was primarily a political decision and a matter for individual members. The Committee agreed to present a comment to the States in these terms.

The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action.

Composition of A6. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A1 of 19th August 2010 and the States: spring Minute No. A5 of the present meeting, received the amendment of the Deputy of St. election and Mary to the proposition: Composition of the States: spring election and move to 4 move to 4 year year term of office, lodged "au Greffe" on 28th September 2010 (P.118/2010 Amd. term of office. (2) (re-issue) refers).

P118/2010 Amd

(2) (re-issue) The Committee noted that the Deputy 's amendment proposed a series of changes to 1240/22/1(54) the electoral system in order to retain the same number of Senators. The Committee agreed that, although the Deputy was seeking to retain the importance of the island- wide mandate, it would, in practice, have the opposite effect. The Committee also agreed that, as a result of the proposal to hold annual elections, with "major" elections for Connétable s and Deputies and "minor" elections for Senators, there would be a likely detrimental impact upon voter turn-out as result of voter fatigue'. The Committee agreed that one of the most effective ways to enhance voter turn-out was through the introduction of the single election day, the introduction of which had been approved by the States in September 2009 (P.109/2009 refers). With packages of complete reform having previously been rejected by the States, the Committee considered that it had developed a way forward which sought to address the aims and requirements of the States and the public as effectively as possible. The Committee also agreed that the financial and manpower implications of the Deputy of St. Mary 's approach were likely to be greater than the £15,000 per annum stated, due to the need for a voter registration campaign and a newspaper insert to be published in advance of every election.

The  Committee agreed  that  a  comment  in  these  terms  should  be  drafted  for presentation to the States.

The Committee Clerk was directed to take the necessary action.

Machinery of A7. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A3 of 21st September 2010 Government: received the amendment of the Deputy of St. Peter to the proposition: Machinery of establishment of Government: establishment of Ministerial Boards and revised system of scrutiny, Ministerial lodged "au Greffe" on 28th September 2010 (P.120/2010 Amd. (2) refers).

Boards and

revised system of The Committee noted that the Deputy proposed that Ministerial Board meetings scrutiny. should be recorded by officers from the States Greffe. The Committee, having P.120/2010 Amd. considered the amendment, agreed that it supported the proposal. The Committee (2) recognised that if the system of Ministerial Boards was to work in a transparent and 1240/22/1(55) effective way it would be beneficial for records of meetings to be drawn up by staff working in the States Greffe who were independent of any ministerial department.

The  Committee agreed  that  a  comment  should  be  drafted  in  these  terms,  for presentation to the States.

The Committee Clerk was directed to take the necessary action.

Machinery of A8. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A3 of 21st September 2010 Government: and Minute No. A7 of the present meeting, received the amendment of Deputy establishment of P.V.F.  Le  Claire  of  St.  Helier  to  the  proposition:  Machinery  of  Government: Ministerial Establishment of Ministerial Boards and revised system of scrutiny, lodged "au Boards and Greffe" on 23rd September 2010 (P.120/2010 Amd. refers).

revised system of

scrutiny. The Committee noted that the amendment proposed that members with delegated P.120/2010 Amd. responsibility for specific functions "shall be referred to as Members with special 1240/22/1(55) responsibility for X'". The Committee welcomed the way in which the Deputy 's

amendment drew attention to the importance of the power of delegation to future members of Boards under the revised system of government proposed by Senator A. Breckon  in  P.120/2010.  However,  the  Committee  noted  that,  as  drafted,  the Deputy 's  amendment  made  it  mandatory  that  Board  members  with  delegated responsibilities "shall" be referred to as the "Member with special responsibility for X". The Committee considered that this lengthy title may not be appropriate in all cases, and agreed that there should be flexibility during the implementation stage so that, if an alternative title was identified, the States would not be formally bound by the decision taken in the amendment. The Committee agreed that an amendment should be drafted to Deputy Le Claire's amendment to P.120/2010 to provide that Board  members  with  delegated  responsibilities "may" be  referred  to  as  the "Member with special responsibility for X".

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

Machinery of A9. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A3 of 21st September 2010 Government: and Minute Nos. A7 and A8 of the present meeting, received the amendment of the establishment of Deputy of St. John to the proposition: Machinery of Government: establishment of Ministerial Ministerial Boards and revised system of scrutiny (p.120/2010) – Third amendment, Boards and lodged "au Greffe" on 29th September 2010 by the Deputy of St. John (P.120/2010 revised system of Amd. (3) refers).

scrutiny.

P.120/2010 The Committee noted that the financial and manpower implications detailed within Amd. (3). P.120/2010 suggested that 5 posts could be redeployed from the current scrutiny 1240/22/1(55) team to provide support for the proposed Ministerial Boards. The Deputy of St.

Peter's  amendment  to  the  proposition  suggested  that  these  5  posts  should  be retained within the States Greffe to service the Boards (P.120/2010 Amd.(2) refers). The  amendment  of  the   Deputy  of  St.  John  proposed  that  the  posts  should  be transferred out of the scrutiny section to provide research assistance for States members. The Committee noted that, if the Deputy of St. Peter 's amendment and the Deputy of St. John 's amendment were both to be adopted, additional resources would be required to fill the new research assistant posts. Should the amendment of the Deputy of St. John be adopted in isolation, resource implications would be associated with the creation of the new rôle of research assistant. The Committee agreed that, subject to the adoption of the amendment of the Deputy of St. Peter to P.120/2010, the Committee was opposed to paragraph 1 of the amendment of the Deputy of St. John .

The Committee agreed that a comment should be drafted in these terms which would  also  note  that  the  Committee  had  no  comment  to  make  in  respect  of paragraph 2 of the amendment, which proposed that Scrutiny Panels should be renamed "Select Committees".

The Committee Clerk was directed to take the necessary action.

States members' A10.  The  Committee  received  the  proposition:  States  members' remuneration: remuneration: reconsideration of 2011 increase and repeal of Article 44 of the States of Jersey reconsideration Law 2005, lodged "au Greffe" on 27th September 2010 by Senator B.E. Shenton of 2011 increase (P.127/2010 refers).

and repeal of

Article 44 of the The Committee noted that the proposition invited members to agreed that the States States of Jersey Members' Remuneration  Review  Body  should  be  requested  to  review  its Law 2005. recommendation for an £800 increase in remuneration for elected members from 1st P.127/2010 January 2011, and that Article 44 of the States of Jersey Law 2005, which prevented 450/1(14) the payment of different amounts of remuneration to different elected members,

should be repealed, with the Review Body being requested to bring forward a scheme of differential remuneration for 2012 and beyond.

The Committee expressed frustration that Senator Shenton had not followed the procedures  agreed  by  the  States  when  the  independent  Review  Body  was established,  whereby  he  could  have  challenged  the  Review  Body's recommendations in R.93/2010 during the month following its presentation. The Committee did not consider it appropriate for the Review Body to be required to reconvene  and  reconsider  its  recommendations.  It  also  noted  that  the  work  of Review  Body  was  undertaken  on  an  honorary  basis  and  for  that  reason  the proposition  was  considered  to  be  unreasonable.  The  Committee  felt  that  the independence of the Review Body should be defended and that States members should not have involvement in setting their own remuneration. The proposal that members should receive differential remuneration was considered to be a purely political decision, which could be addressed by the Review Body, should the States agree  to  repeal  Article  44.  The  Committee agreed  that  Chairman  should  be requested to write to the Chairman of the States Members' Remuneration Review Body to request a preliminary indication as to whether or not it would be willing to reconvene to reconsider its recommendation, in accordance with paragraph (a) of the proposition.

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

Scrutiny reports. A11.  The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A7 of 21st September 2010 465/1(156) received a report in connexion with the possible introduction of a mechanism to

enable scrutiny reports to be discussed on the floor of the Assembly.

The Committee recalled that it had agreed at its meeting on 21st September 2010 to consider the formal introduction of scrutiny reports within the States Assembly, following a suggestion by the Deputy of St. Mary . The Committee noted a number of options which had been based upon procedures employed in other jurisdictions. The  Committee agreed  that  the  report  should  be  referred  to  the  Chairmen's Committee and the Committee's comments sought in this respect.

The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action.

Work during A12. The Committee received correspondence dated 28th September 2010 from the recess. President of the Chairmen's Committee, Senator B.E. Shenton in connexion with 1240(214) the level of work carried out by some members of the States during recess.

The Committee agreed that members should be expected to carry out some level of work during the recess, but considered that it was a matter for members' conscience. It  was  noted  that  the  current  system  of  government  could  be  altered  if  the proposition: Machinery of Government: Ministerial Boards and revised system of scrutiny,  lodged "au  Greffe" on  26th  August  2010  by  Senator  A.  Breckon (P.120/2010 refers), was to be adopted by the States. Should this be the case, the Committee felt that the problem may not arise to the same extent in future. It was agreed  that  the  situation  should  be  monitored  and  subsequently  reviewed  if problems were to persist. The Committee agreed to request the Chairman to write to the President of the Chairmen's Committee to advise him accordingly.

The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action.

Family A13.  The Committee received e-mail correspondence dated 22nd September 2010 members from Mr. G. Romeril, in connexion with the ability of family members to stand for standing  for election.

election.

450/2/1(35) The Committee noted the opinion of Mr. Romeril that partners and members of the

same family or household should not be permitted to stand for election as members of the States and that this should be prevented in advance of the next election. The Committee agreed that it was for the electorate to elect whomsoever they saw fit and that human rights issues would arise should anyone seek to prevent members of the same family or household from standing for election. The Committee agreed to request the Chairman to write to Mr. Romeril to advise him accordingly.

The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action.

Draft Freedom of A14.  The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A1 of 29th September 2010, Information received e-mail correspondence dated 1st October 2010 from the Law Officers' (Jersey) Law Department in connexion with the draft Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 201-, 201-. lodged "au Greffe" by the Privileges and Procedures Committee on 19th July 2010 P.101/2010 (P.101/2010 refers).

670/1(21).

The Committee noted that some drafting revisions were likely to be required in respect of the draft Law. It was agreed that these should be carried out prior to the debate on P.101/2010, and that the debate should accordingly be deferred until November 2010.

The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action. Matters for A15. The Committee noted the following matters for information:

information.

1. cor  respondence  sent  and  received  following  its  meeting  on  21st September 2010:

1. f rom the Vice Chairman to the Deputy of St. Mary in connexion with the Deputy 's comments on the report of the States Business Organisation Sub-Group (R.59/2010 refers);
2. f rom the Vice Chairman to the Editor of the Jersey Evening Post dated  23rd  September  2010,  in  connexion  with  an  e-mail received by States members; and the response of the Deputy Editor dated 24th September 2010;
3. f rom the Greffier of the States to H.M. Attorney General dated 24th September 2010 in connexion with declarations made by candidates for Senator or Deputy .

2. a written question to the Chairman from Deputy J.M. Maçon of St. Saviour in connexion with media protocols. The Committee agreed that it was not its rôle to express a view in respect of any protocol operated  by  a  media  organisation;  however,  the   Deputy  should  be advised that, following discussions with the Deputy of St. Martin at the present meeting (Minute No. A1 refers), the Committee had decided to

undertake further work in respect of the proposition: Media Relations: Code of Conduct, lodged "au Greffe" on 15th July 2010 (P.100/2010 refers).