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Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré Chief Minister
31st August 2018 Dear Chief Minister,
Policy Development Boards - Update
Further to meeting you on 24th August, the impact of your Policy Development Boards on Scrutiny was again highlighted during discussions of the Chairmen's Committee this week. The Committee unanimously agreed that I should write to you immediately to report recent issues that have arisen, and to re-iterate the points raised in previous correspondence (particularly 16th July and 19th July) and again during the meeting with you.
The Committee was very disappointed that your recent and unexpected appointment of Deputy Alves to the Hospital PDB, at a time when the membership of the Future Hospital Review Panel is being configured, has denied that Panel the significant knowledge and experience that Deputy Alves could bring to Scrutiny's work in that area. It is another tangible example of how your insistence on using Scrutiny members (rather than the uncontroversial approach of using existing executive members, combined with knowledgeable members of the public as per your terms of reference) to make-up your PDB's has, as with your appointment of Deputy Pointon, avoidably taken much needed and valued experience away from Scrutiny.
Not only does it put members in a very difficult positon having to make a choice between Scrutiny or what is essentially Government work, it also means that both the Health and Social Security Panel and PAC both have two members conflicted on hospital/health matters. This is a highly unsatisfactory positon that we find ourselves in.
In addition to the above, for ease of reference I also list below a summary of the concerns raised with you previously, which include but are not restricted to:
- overall drain on Scrutiny member resources and loss of valuable experience/knowledge
- blurring of lines between Executive and Scrutiny responsibilities in the Ministerial system of government, in doing so effectively compromising good governance, accountability and the Troy rule
- increased risk of self-review'
- resemblance of the Hospital PDB and its proposed work and processes to a Scrutiny Panel/PAC, and the confusion this introduces into the machinery of government
- inefficient/duplicate use of resources
- lack of transparency (eg process of appointments, no published minutes)
- undermining of the work of the formally mandated Future Hospital Review Panel
- the conflicts of interest caused to the Hospital Review Panel, Health and Social Security
Panel and PAC
States Greffe | Morier House | St Helier | Jersey | JE1 1DD Tel: 01534 441080 | Fax: 01534 441077 | email: scrutiny@gov.je
I would like to stress again that that we appreciate the intention behind the PDB's, but we simply believe that with proactive and early engagement from Ministers, Scrutiny is ideally placed to appropriately assist the process of strong policy development (across the various stages), offering an objective sounding board independent of Government. This is an inclusive' approach that respects roles/responsibilities, enables all Members to constructively contribute their skills and knowledge, avoids duplication and uses existing resources efficiently.
Yours sincerely,
Senator Kristina Moore President, Chairmen's Committee