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PM/SC/255 433
PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (116th Meeting)
6th September 2011
PART A
All members were present.
Connétable J. Gallichan of St. Mary , Chairman Senator B.I. Le Marquand
Senator S.C. Ferguson
Connétable P.F.M. Hanning of St. Saviour Deputy J.B. Fox
Deputy J.A. Martin
Deputy T.M. Pitman
In attendance -
M.N. de la Haye, Greffier of the States
Mrs. A.H. Harris , Deputy Greffier of the States
P. Monamy, Acting 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 meeting held on 12th July 2011 (Part A and Part B),
having been previously circulated, were taken as read and were confirmed.
"Hand-held A2. The Committee, having recalled that it had on 17th May 2011 lodged au devices in the Greffe' a report and proposition entitled "Hand-held devices in the States States: trial" Chamber: trial" (P.77/2011) and that this item was set down under States' "Public (P.77/2011): Business" for 12th September 2011, agreed to withdraw the proposition and to withdrawal. leave the issue to be considered by the successive Committee and the new 465/1(169) Assembly after the forthcoming elections.
The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action.
"Electoral A3. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A2 of 14th June 2011, Commission: considered a report prepared by the Greffier of the States which set out the possible structure which the Committee had indicated it believed would be appropriate for options" the Electoral Commission to be established under the proposition, as amended, of (R.54/2011). the Deputy of St. Mary which the States had adopted on 15th March 2011. 1240/22/1(59)
The Committee recognised that the above-mentioned report would facilitate members' assessment at the time of the Annual Business Plan debate how it was proposed to allocate the sum of £200,000 which had been set aside for this work. The Committee recalled that, on 13th May 2011, it had presented to the States a report (R.54/2011) which set out possible options on the composition of the proposed Commission, as well as its concerns about the proposals. Although the Committee had invited views in response to the document, only 2 responses had been received.
The Committee agreed that, whilst there would be a better chance of the
Commission being accepted and respected in the Island if a majority of its members were local residents, it would nevertheless be desirable for some external expertise to be available to the Commission and concluded that it would be more efficient and effective to bring this outside expertise into the Commission itself rather than to have a separate external advisory panel as suggested by the Deputy of St. Mary .
Having considered potential problems and issues, the possible cost of an Electoral Commission, and the likely timescale involved, the Committee - having noted that the Council of Ministers had withdrawn its proposition entitled "Machinery of Government: review" (P.76/2011) - approved its report and accordingly decided to present it to the States for their information.
The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action.
"Standing A4. The Committee considered a proposition entitled "Standing Orders: answers Orders: to questions" (P.132/2011) which had been lodged au Greffe' on 3rd August 2011 answers to by Deputy G.P. Southern .
questions"
(P.132/2011): The Committee, having noted that the proposition sought amendments to Standing Deputy G.P. Orders to make new provisions in relation to the answering or oral questions, Southern – agreed that whilst it supported moves to improve question time in the States it was comment. not supportive of the Deputy 's proposition as it believed that the formal changes 450/2/1(62) requested could, in practice, make question time less effective.
Whereas part (a)(i) of the proposition suggested that answers to oral questions could be accompanied by lists of data if necessary, the Committee considered that this would simply blur the distinction between written and oral questions. As it was intended that an oral question should be brief – with Standing Orders requiring the answer to be concise – the Committee considered that oral questions should not be used to ask for complicated information which could not be readily given in the short time allowed for an answer.
As regards part (a)(ii) of the proposition, whereas it was suggested that a new power should be granted to the Presiding Officer to direct a member answering a question to address the content more directly, the Committee shared Deputy Southern 's concern that there could be occasions when answers given by Ministers and others did not address the question sufficiently and where the member answering could appear to be evasive, and decided to remind Ministers of the provisions of their own Ministerial Code. The Committee recognised that the Presiding Officer did already, on occasions, intervene when it was felt that a Minister was not answering a question directly, and whilst encouraging such an approach, the Committee did not support the approach suggested by Deputy Southern that Standing Orders should be formally amended in relation to this matter.
The Committee decided to present a comment on the proposition to the States and requested the Greffier of the States to take the necessary action.
"States of A5. The Committee considered a proposition entitled "States of Jersey Law Jersey Law 2005: removal of restrictions on number of Ministers and Assistant Ministers" 2005: removal (P.145/2011) which had been lodged au Greffe' on 22nd August 2011 by Senator of restrictions B.E. Shenton.
on number of
Ministers and The Committee, having noted that the proposition sought amendments to the States Assistant of Jersey Law 2005 to remove (i) the current provision that restricted the permitted Ministers" total number of Ministers and Assistant Ministers; and (ii) the current restriction
116th Meeting 06.09.11
(P.145/2011): that provided that each Minister might appoint no more than 2 Assistant Ministers, Senator B.E. agreed that a review of the present structure of the machinery of government in Shenton – Jersey would be desirable. However, the Committee considered that it would not comment. be appropriate to support Senator Shenton's proposition as it did not believe that 450/1(17) such a change should be contemplated before any in-depth work had been
undertaken to consider the consequential impact might have on scrutiny or whether there was a need for an increased number of Assistant Ministers. The Committee was concerned that the simple abolition of the current requirement for a minority Executive (the so-called Troy ' rule) could simply increase the power of the Council of Ministers at the expense of members who were not Ministers or Assistant Ministers as, if these members were to be in a minority, they would have less ability to hold the Executive to account through scrutiny and in their capacity as private members.
The Committee decided to present a comment on the proposition to the States and requested the Greffier of the States to take the necessary action.
"States A6. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A1 of 8th August 20911, members' considered a proposition entitled "States members' remuneration: expenses remuneration: allowance" (P.148/2011) which had been lodged au Greffe' on 24th August 2011 expenses by Deputy S. Pitman.
allowance"
(P.148/2011): The Committee, having noted that the proposition sought (a) the non- Deputy S. implementation of the recommendation of the States' Members' Remuneration Pitman – no Review Body that there should be an increase for the year 2012 of £350 in the comment. expenses allowance for States members; and (b) that the proposed terms of 1240/3(73) reference of the future Electoral Commission should be extended to enable it to
investigate the equity of the current expenses system, considered that these were matters for the Remuneration Review Body to consider.
The Committee decided not to present a comment on the proposition to the States.
"Chief A7. The Committee considered a proposition entitled "Chief Minister: election Minister: by an open ballot" (P.126/2011) which had been lodged au Greffe' on 27th July election by an 2011 by Deputy T.M. Pitman.
open ballot"
(P.126/2011): The Committee, having noted that the proposition sought amendments to the Deputy T.M. necessary Regulations so to provide that the election of Chief Minister should be Pitman – no undertaken by way of an open ballot and no longer by a secret ballot for States comment. members, considered that it was a matter for individual members to vote according 450/2/1(60) to their conscience.
The Committee decided not to present a comment on the proposition to the States.
Standing Order A8. The Committee, with reference to its Minutes Nos. A3 of 26th January 2010 168: and A14 of 25th January 2011, considered a possible amendment to Standing amendment re. Order 168 so as to bring it in line with provisions under the new Residential definition of Tenancy (Jersey) Law 201-, which it was noted was presently before H.M. Privy "residential Council.
tenancy."
450/2/1(44) It was recognised that Mr. P. Griffin, Principal Valuer, Property Holdings
Department had suggested the inclusion of an additional paragraph so as to define a residential tenancy as "that which is terminable upon serving at least three months notice or such other time period as specified in the Law from time to time."
The Committee agreed in principle that the above-mentioned amendment should be made to Standing Order 168 at the appropriate time, and the Greffier of the
States was requested to arrange for the necessary amendment to be prepared for the Committee's consideration in due course.
Elections A9. The Committee considered a file note of a meeting held on 12th August 2011: 2011 attended by the Chairman and the Connétable of St. Saviour with the Education, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture regarding the Guidance Notes issued by Sport and the Minister to various groups within the Education Service in relation to the Culture public elections to be held in 2011.
guidance note
re. "Meetings The Committee also received a copy of the Guidance Note entitled "Public on School and Elections – Meetings on School and Youth Service Premises" which had been Youth Services issued on 31st August 2011 by the Education, Sport and Culture Department from Premises." which it was concerned to note that whereas it was expected that invitations were 424/2(75) to be issued to all candidates for Senator, Connétable or Deputy running for the
same post in relation to their respective meetings with prospective voters on Youth Service premises, it was stated as being a requirement that such meetings on School premises must be attended by all the candidates for the relevant posts.
The Committee agreed that this apparent anomaly should be drawn to the attention of the Minister with a view to review and amendment in due course. The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action.
2011 elections: A10. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A6 of 10th May 2011, voter considered a report, dated 31st August 2011, prepared by the Deputy Greffier of registration the States concerning the status of the ongoing campaign to encourage voter and turnout: registration and turnout in respect of the 2011 elections.
promotional
campaign. The Committee, having recalled that the deadline for voter registration was Noon 424/2(72) on Monday, 6th September 2011, noted that promotional Don't forget to vote'
banners were presently being printed and would include the "Hedley Le Maistre" characterisation theme. Furthermore, advertisements along the same lines were being prepared for insertion in the Jersey Evening Post, with the Judicial Greffe having accepted responsibility for the cost of those which were to appear in the 14th September and 6th October editions.
The Committee noted with interest the first draft of a "Candidates Booklet" which had just become available.
The Deputy Greffier reported that, from the limited statistical information presently available, it appeared that the voter registration campaign had indeed resulted in some increase in the number of registered voters. The Committee accordingly expressed its appreciation of the work on the campaign over a prolonged period which had been undertaken by the Deputy Greffier and staff of the States Greffe.
Forthcoming A11. The Committee, having noted schedules showing those items of public States Public business which had been set down for consideration by the States on 12th Business. September 2011, and that which was to be proposed for 20th September and 8th 1240/7/1(1) November 2011, considered a proposal of the Council of Ministers that, subject to
prior consultation with the Chief Minister, "given that reaching a decision on the draft Annual Business Plan 2012 (P.123/2011) and the various amendments to the same was thought likely to take the States more than 2 days, and having concluded that it would be less than desirable for the States to continue meeting during an active period of election campaigning, the Chairman of the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC) should be invited to consider proposing –
- that the meeting of the States commencing on Monday, 12th
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116th Meeting 06.09.11
September should not continue beyond Friday 16th September under any circumstances;
- that any propositions not considered by Friday 16th September should be deferred to the meeting commencing on 8th November 2011; and
- that the meeting commencing on 20th September 2011 should be extinguished."
It was further understood that the Council and Ministers had agreed to withdraw all propositions in the name of the Council and/or individual Ministers set down for consideration on 20th September in order to reduce the likelihood of there being a need for the States to meet during that week. Having concurred with the views of the Chairman, the Committee agreed that the suggested cancellation of the meeting of the States scheduled for 20th September was not a matter for the Committee to propose but rather that it was a matter which should be determined by the States taking into consideration the views of all States members, particularly those not within the Executive who had propositions awaiting consideration by the States.
The Chairman undertook to write to the Chief Minister in order to convey the Committee's views on the matter.
Church Service A12. The Committee noted a letter, dated 9th August 2011, from the Bailiff to be held on confirming that he had approached the Dean regarding the suggestion that a church 14th service for States members should be held on 14th November 20011 rather than in November January 2012, and that he would make the necessary arrangements to proceed 2011. accordingly.
465/1(172)
Work A13. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A7 of 14th June 2011, programme. received a copy of its ongoing work programme and noted its contents.
States of A14. The Committee received a report prepared by the States of Jersey Jersey Complaints Board in connexion with its findings in respect of a complaint against Complaints a decision of the Minister for Planning and Environment.
Board:
findings. It was noted that, in accordance with Article 9(9) of the Administrative Decisions 1386/2/1/2 (Review) (Jersey) Law 1982, the Committee was required to present the report (311) entitled "States of Jersey Complaints Board Findings – Complaint against a
decision of the Minister for Planning and Environment regarding the property known as Transvaal', La Rue de Fauvic, Grouville " to the States in the Report series.
The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action.
Standing Order A15. The Committee was apprised by the Greffier of the States of the urgent need 112: to amend Standing Order 112 in order to address a provision which had been amendment re. overlooked when necessary legislative changes were made to implement the single date of first election day in 2011.
meeting of the
new States The Committee noted that Standing Order 112 currently required the first meeting after elections. of the new States to be held within 14 days of the election for Deputies and that 450/2(17) this clearly was not possible with the timetable that was in place for 2011, with the
election to be held on 19th October and the first meeting of the new States already arranged for 14th November. It was recognised that now the Royal Court had fixed the swearing-in day, and in view of the fact that the Budget needed to be debated on 8th November in order to meet the requirements of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005, there was no realistic scope to change the agreed timetable.
Following consultation with the Deputy Bailiff , it had been agreed that the only sensible option was to ask the States to amend Standing Orders so as to change the 14-day requirement to a 28-day one (given that 26 days were actually required). It was hoped that States members would see the proposal as a very simple legal technicality.' It was further noted that the amendment could not now be lodged au Greffe' for long enough to meet the normal 4-week lodging period required and the Committee recognised that it would be necessary for it to ask the States to agree to reduce the lodging period.
The Committee accordingly approved the draft Amendment (No. 16) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey, together with the accompanying explanatory report, and decided to lodge it au Greffe' with immediate effect and requested the Chairman to seek the leave of the States for the matter to be taken into consideration during September 2011.
The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action.
Amending or A16. The Committee noted that, as a consequence of a meeting on 19th July 2011 repealing the between the Council of Ministers and the Chairmen's Committee, the Greffier of so-called the States had been requested to prepare a paper on the implications of amending Troy ' rule: or repealing the so-called Troy ' rule, which name was generally used to describe report for the present statutory requirement that under the Ministerial system in Jersey the information. number of States members who were not Ministers or Assistant Ministers should 450/2/1(63) always be greater than the number who were.
The Committee received for its information a copy of the report which had been prepared by the Greffier.