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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER
BY DEPUTY T.M. PITMAN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2010
Question
"Following Senator B.E Shenton's decision to withdraw the vast majority of the numerous amendments he had lodged to the Draft Annual Business Plan 2011 (P.99/2010) shortly before the actual debate, after States Members had spent time preparing for the debates, would the Chief Minister advise what approximate cost was incurred by the taxpayer for the time spent considering and researching responses to these amendments by the various Ministers and their departmental staff?"
Answer
The amendment process is part of the democratic process, and is set out by the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 200- . It gives States Members an opportunity to suggest changes to the draft Business Plan after it has been lodged.
Unfortunately it is not possible to provide meaningful and accurate estimates of the cost of this process without incurring further costs to the taxpayer. However it easy to see that this process resulted in a significant piece of work, particularly in light of the number of amendments received, for both officers and Ministers. This work, involving hundreds of hours of officers time, was carried out over a short period of time from the deadline of the Amendments being submitted to the Greffe up until the debate.