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Democratic Accountability and Governance Sub- Committee #1
18 March 2021 2:30
Privileges and Procedures Committee: Democratic Accountability and Governance Sub-Committee
Meeting 1: 18th March 2021
Members present: Senator Tracey Vallois (Chair), Senator Sam Mézec , Connétable John Le Bailly, Connétable Richard Buchanan
Apologies were received from Senator Ian Gorst and Deputy Kirsten Morel of St. Lawrence
Also in attendance: Dr Mark Egan, Greffier and K. Boydens , Principal Committee and Panel Officer
- Welcome
The Chair started the meeting by welcoming Members to the Sub-Committee and explaining that the main aim of the review was to improve the current ministerial system of government.
- Terms of Reference
The Sub-Committee noted and discussed the Terms of Reference for its review. The Sub- Committee requested that scrutiny portfolio', in addition to ministerial portfolio, was added. Subject to this minor change, the Sub-Committee approved the document accordingly.
- Scope of the review and timeline
The Sub-Committee discussed the scope of its review and agreed that research would be undertaken on matters surrounding the topic including systems of government in other jurisdictions. The Sub-Committee noted that it had received a briefing paper on the key milestones regarding Jersey's machinery of government and was advised that additional briefing papers would be uploaded to Microsoft Teams as the review progressed.
It was anticipated that the review would run from March to December 2021.
- Stakeholder engagement
In terms of gathering evidence and stakeholder engagement, the Sub-Committee agreed that States Members and senior government officials would be invited to submit their views on the matter in the first instance. In that regard, the Sub-Committee agreed that it would contact the following key stakeholders:
• All States Members including
- Chief Minister and Ministers
- President of Scrutiny Liaison Committee and Scrutiny Members
- Assistant Ministers
- Comité de Connétable s
- Non-executive members
• Senior Government Officials including:
- CEO and Head of Public Service
- Director Generals
- Group Directors
- Former senior civil servants
The Greffier suggested that, in addition to inviting views directly, a workshop could be organised for States Members in order to discuss the topic collectively. The Sub-Committee agreed that this would be a beneficial way to not only gather views but also suggestions for improvements to the system of government. It was agreed that this would be discussed further at the next meeting.
The Sub-Committee agreed that it would publicise the review on the States Assembly website and social media in order to generate public interest in the topic. Following the launch of the review, the Sub-Committee agreed that, although it was primarily gathering views from internal stakeholders, it would welcome any views received from the public.
The Sub-Committee also agreed that it would be beneficial to hear from former States Members. The Sub-Committee was advised that the States Greffe had contacts for most former States Members and that a directory would be set up in order that they could be contacted directly.
- Future Meetings
The Sub-Committee agreed that the next meeting would be scheduled to take place after the Easter break to discuss the next steps of the review.