Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 30 November 2006

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Agenda matter

Action

1.

Minutes – The Panel approved the minutes of the meeting held on 9th November 2006.

2.

Item 3a 09.11.06

Item 6

Matters arising -

Orchid  Communications – The  Panel  noted  that  Orchid Communications were unable to attend the Panel meeting as requested. The  Panel  was  informed  that  Orchid Communications were now focused on working with the Public Engagement Group, and their allocated ten hours per week were therefore dedicated to this.

P.144/2006 - Comments  in  Jersey  Evening  Post - The Chairman informed the Panel of the discussion he had had with the  Editor  regarding  the  reporting  of  his  comments  on  the proposed Committee of Enquiry. It was agreed that there was no point in pursuing this matter further.

3.

Register of local persons – The Panel proposed the names of several individuals to be added to a register of local advisers, and  requested  for  the  Chairmen's  Committee  to  be  notified accordingly.

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4.

Chairmen's Committee – The Panel received a draft copy of the minutes from the Chairmen's Committee meeting held on

27th  October  2006. The  Panel  noted  that  the  Chairmen's Committee minutes on the Scrutiny website were not up to date,

and requested for this to be addressed.

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5.

Fiscal Strategy Reviews –

The Panel noted a report on expenditure to date for the GST and the Zero/Ten Reviews, and requested for a copy of the report to be forwarded to the Chairmen's Committee and the Accounting Officer. The Panel also noted that much of the detail of the implementation of GST would be contained in Regulations which would be introduced in 2007. The Panel therefore agreed that it would be beneficial to extend the work of the Sub Panel into 2007 to review the Regulations and noted that its adviser had indicated that he would be available to continue working with the Panel.

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6.

Overseas Aid Review –

The Panel received an oral progress report on the Overseas Aid Review from the Chairman of the Sub Panel.

a. Call for evidence - a public call for evidence had been made, with a deadline for all submissions to be received

by Friday 19th January 2006.

2. Adviser – the Panel agreed that it would be beneficial to engage  the  assistance  of  an  expert  adviser  with international experience for this review. The Panel noted that  University  Departments  running  International Development  courses  had  been  contacted,  and  it  was agreed  that  once  responses  had  been  received  from interested  parties  the  Panel  would  discuss  the appointment of potential individuals.

3. Sub Panel membership – Deputy Gallichan informed the Panel that as a result of other commitments she would not be able to assist the Panel with this review.

7.

Future work programme 2007 –

The Panel gave initial consideration to its future work programme for 2007, based on a paper prepared by the Scrutiny Officer. It was agreed that the Fiscal Strategy should continue to be one of the  main  priorities  for  the  Panel.  The  Panel  also  agreed  to consider a paper prepared by the Scrutiny Officer on the scrutiny of the States Business Plan.

The Panel noted that legislation regarding the implementation of the Migration Policy was scheduled for lodging early in 2007 and requested that an update be obtained for the next meeting.

The  Panel  agreed  that  further  discussion  on  the  work programme should continue at its next meeting.

On a related matter, the Chairman informed the Panel that as a result  of  the  States  Debate  on  P.144/2006  into  Mobile Telecommunications, he had offered to chair a Sub Panel for this review on behalf of the Health,  Social Security and Housing Scrutiny Panel. The Panel noted that the Sub Panel had not yet been formally constituted; however it was brought to the Panel's attention that it was likely that Officer support with this review would be from the Corporate Services Panel as all other officers were  fully  occupied  at  this  stage. The  Panel  discussed  the impact this would have on its workload in the short term, and agreed that it would limit the time that the Officer was able to spend on the GST Review which was due to report by the middle of January. The Panel noted that the review of mobile phone masts was likely to extend beyond the six weeks period which had  been  initially  proposed  to  meet  the  deadline  set  by  the Minister. Consequently, the use of its officer resource was likely to have a significant effect on its work programme for 2007, as it would  only  leave  one  Officer  to  support  the  full  Corporate Services Panel. The Panel requested for its concerns to be relayed to the Scrutiny Manager.

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8.

Implementation of the Strategic Plan –

The Panel considered a six monthly update progress report from the  Chief  Minister's  and  the  Treasury  and  Resources Departments. The  Panel  agreed  that  this  was  an  extremely helpful  document,  however  it  was  noted  that  the  report  was

presented to the Council of Ministers on the 26th September 2006, and it had not been received by the Scrutiny Department

until mid-November 2006. The Panel agreed that it would have been beneficial to have had this document in advance of its

Public  Meeting  with  the  Chief  Minister  on  the  9th  November 2006,  and  requested  for  a  letter  to  be  drafted  to  the  Chief

Minister  requesting  for  the  Panel  to  have  access  to  future

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progress reports as soon as possible.

9.

Forthcoming legislation –

The Panel considered a report on propositions scheduled for States  debate. The  Panel  agreed  that  this  was  a  helpful document, and requested for it to be placed on the agenda for each full Panel meeting for consideration.

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10.

Ministerial decisions –

The Panel considered recent decisions taken by Ministers, and agreed that it wished to continue receiving this information at future meetings.

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11.

Meeting dates 2007 –

The  Panel  approved  the  proposed  schedule  of  meetings  for 2007.

12.

Date of next meeting –

The  next  Panel  meeting  was  scheduled  for  Friday  21st December  2006  at  9.30  am  in  the  Blampied  Room,  States

Building.

13.

Any other business

Deputy Gallichan informed the Panel that she had expressed the intention  to  seek  membership  on  the  Education  and  Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel and that if successful; she would not be remaining on the Corporate Services Panel. The Panel thanked her for her work and support over the first year of Scrutiny.

The Panel was informed that the draft Business Plan for the Chief Minister's Department would be forwarded in the first week of December.