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MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT: RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES _______________
Lodged au Greffe on 30th January 2001 by Senator S. Syvret
______________________________
STATES OF JERSEY
STATES GREFFE
180 2 0 0 1 P . 1 9
Price code: A
PROPOSITION
THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -
(a ) th at no procedure for the implementation of changes to the machinery of Government shall be put in place
until such time as the States have decided whether, and to what extent, the recommendations of the Review Panel on the Machinery of Government should be accepted;
(b ) th at prior States approval shall be given to the implementation procedure of any changes to the machinery of
Government and, in particular -
(i ) th e m e m bership and terms of reference of any implementation group; and
(ii ) th e w o r ding and timing of any form of opinion poll, ballot or referendum of the public.
SENATOR S. SYVRET
Report
We have a system of government that, notwithstanding some well documented failings, has in broad terms served the Island reasonably well since the last major changes some fifty years ago. Changes to the established way of government, particularly the wholesale abandonment of the present system as proposed by the Clothier report, should be approached with great caution.
A variety of opinions have been expressed as to the merits of the Clothier recommendations. We are faced with the task of considering these opinions and possibly making the most important constitutional changes the Island has seen for fifty years. It is therefore important that we establish from the outset that the States Assembly shall have responsibility for how any implementation process should be conducted.
The States Assembly is - for the present at least - the nearest the Island has to a Government'. It is through the Assembly that the general democratic will of the community is expressed. The machinery of government is of such importance that the task of making decisions as to how to carry the issue forward should not be for a single Committee; instead they ought to seek approval from the States for each significant step of the process.
If the process of considering and implementing any changes to our system of government is to proceed in an orderly and consensual manner it is imperative that the ownership' of the process should reside with the States.
This proposition has no financial or manpower implications.