Skip to main content

Machinery of Government implementation plan - Special Committee

This content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost. Let us know if you find any major problems.

Text in this format is not official and should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments. Please see the PDF for the official version of the document.

MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN: SPECIAL COMMITTEE

_______________

Lodged au Greffe on 9th October 2001 by Senator J.A. Le Maistre

______________________________

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES GREFFE

180             2 0 0 1   P . 1 4 6          

Price code: A

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -

(a)  to  establish a Special Committee, comprising five elected members of the States (not being members of either the Policy and Resources, Finance and Economics or Human Resources Committees) to scrutinise all aspects of the implementation plan of the Machinery of Government being presented to the States by the Policy and Resources Committee;

  ( b ) to  request  the  Finance  and  Economics  and  Human  Resources  Committees  to  provide  to  the  Special

Committee adequate resources (both financial and manpower), and to request all Committees of the States to co-operate as required with the Special Committee, to enable it to undertake its task.

SENATOR J.A. LE MAISTRE

Notes:  1. T h e Finance and Economics Committee's comments are to follow.   2 . T h e Human Resources Committee's comments are to follow.

REPORT

During the four day debate on the Policy and Resources Committee proposition regarding proposed reforms to the machinery of government (P.122/2001) the matter referred to most often by many speakers was the need for effective scrutiny.

It seems to me that we have an opportunity to put such an important matter into practice without delay and there can be no better subject to focus on than the implementation proposals for the machinery of Government.

I wish to emphasise that the reason why members of the three named committees should be excluded from membership of a Special Committee,  is  to ensure  that there is no  perceived conflict of  interest. To work effectively, the  emphasis on independence must be maintained.

Having reflected on the speeches of many members, I believe that the benefits of appointing a Special Committee for this task are self evident. This should also result in a more structured debate on proposals which are likely to be complex and potentially controversial.

Financial and manpower implications

It is clear that a budget will need to be made available to the Special Committee if it is to undertake its task effectively. It will also be necessary for the Committee to be provided with independent executive support.