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Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 15 March 2007

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Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel

PUBLIC MEETING Record of Meeting

Date: 15th March 2007 Meeting Number: 34

Present Deputy P J D Ryan, Chairman

Senator J Perchard, Vice Chairman Connétable J L S Gallichan Connétable D Murphy

Deputy C Egré

In attendance Mr M Haden, Scrutiny Officer

Miss S Power, Scrutiny Officer

 

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

1.

Minutes –

The Panel approved the minutes of the meetings held on the 15th and 27th February 2007.

 

2.

Notes –

The Panel received notes of the confidential meeting held on the 27th February 2007 with the Minister for Treasury

and Resources.

 

3.

Item 4 15.02.07

Item  11 15.02.07

Matters arising –

  1. International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage –

The Panel noted the response from Mr M Entwistle, International Relations Officer, and the subsequent response  from  Mr  P  Baker,  Maritime  Compliance Manager. The Panel agreed that this matter should be investigated further, and delegated responsibility to Deputy Egré to arrange a meeting with Mr Baker, and  to  report  back  to  the  Panel  with  further information.

  1. Government Bonds -

The Panel noted that Mr Steel had been contacted to request for a paper demonstrating the financial and economic  benefits  to  the  Island  of  implementing Government Bonds, and that this information would be provided to the Panel in due course.

CE

4.

Chairmen's Committee

The Panel noted that as a number of issues on the last

 

 

Chairmen's  Committee  agenda  had  been  deferred,  no briefing  notes  had  been  prepared  from  this  meeting; however Minutes would be circulated to all members.

 

5.

Access to Council of Ministers Part B Papers

The Panel noted the response from the Chief Minister

dated the 15th February 2007, and agreed that the Panel was now getting full co-operation with regard to access to

confidential information.

 

6.

Financial account

The  Panel  noted  the  financial  account  for  the  year  of 2006. Connétable Murphy noted that each Scrutiny Panel had contributed £5,000 in 2006 for PR Consultancy, and questioned whether Scrutiny was currently receiving value for money in this area, as he believed there had not been a discernible increase in terms of public involvement in the Scrutiny function.

 

7.

Forthcoming legislation –

The Panel noted a paper outlining forthcoming items of draft legislation due to be debated within the next month.

 

8.

Ministerial decisions

The  Panel  noted  a  paper  documenting  Ministerial decisions for the period from the 8th February to the 9th

March 2007.

 

9.

Date of next meeting –

The Panel agreed to hold an update meeting during the States lunch break on the 27th March 2007, to provide an

opportunity to approve the draft GST report.

The next monthly Panel meeting would take place on the 19th April 2007.

 

10.

Item 10a 15.02.07

Item 10b 15.02.07

Item 10c 15.02.07

Current Reviews

  1. Overseas Aid Review The Panel received an oral progress report from the Chairman of the Sub Panel. The Panel noted that the Sub Panel was currently waiting  for  a  response  from  the  Overseas  Aid Commission to its request for further evidence, and

that this was expected to be received on the 19th March 2007. The Panel noted that should any issues

remain outstanding once this information had been received,  the  Sub  Panel  might  choose  to  hold  a further Public Hearing with the Commission on the

21st March 2007.

  1. GST Review The Panel noted that the GST Sub Panel  was  currently  in  the  process  of  drafting  its report, with a view to presenting it to the States by the end of March 2007, in advance of the debate on the

draft  legislation,  which  was scheduled for the  17th April 2007.

 

c. Zero/Ten Review The Panel noted that the Sub Panel was expecting to receive the next stage of the

draft  legislation  on  the  2nd  April. The  Minister  for Treasury and Resources had advised the Sub Panel

that the legislation would be likely to be scheduled for

debate by the States on the 17th July 2007.

The  Panel  received  a  response  from  the  Chief Minister to a letter sent by Senator Perchard on the

2nd March 2007, raising questions with regard to the issue of a level playing field. The Panel agreed that

there was a lack of clarity surrounding this issue, and that it would be beneficial for the Zero/Ten Sub Panel to widen its terms of reference to include researching the Island's obligations internationally in terms of the following:

  1. OECD  Tax  Information  ExchangeAgreements SP
  2. Savings  Tax  Initiative  with  EU  Member

Item 10d States

15.02.07 3. Code of Conduct on Harmful Tax Practices

The Panel requested for the terms of reference for this review to be amended accordingly, and for Mr Teather,  the  Panel's  adviser,  to  be  contacted  and informed of this decision.

d. Migration Policy Review The Panel noted that the Sub Panel had held informative meetings with  the Data Protection Commissioner and the Statistics Unit

on the 1st March 2007. The Panel noted that the Sub Panel's  next  meeting  was  scheduled  for  the  22nd March, where the Sub Panel would be meeting with

representatives  from  the  Health  Department,  to discuss progress with the health screening database.

11. Meeting with the Chief Minister

The Panel welcome Senator F.H. Walker , Chief Minister; Item 2 Mr B Ogley, Chief Executive; to its meeting to discuss the 27.02.07 following issues from the report on strategic initiatives:

  1. The  Island's  obligations  in  terms  of  a  level playing field with the EU and OECD The Panel informed the Chief Minister that the Zero/Ten Sub Panel would be widening its terms of reference to include research into this issue, with the ultimate aim of providing clarity to all States Members, and members  of  the  public  in  terms  of  the  Island's commitments. It was agreed that there would be benefit  in  the  Sub  Panel  working  with  the  Chief Minister to achieve this objective.
  2. The  Island's  move  to  a  Zero/Ten  Corporate Taxation Structure.
  1. The Island's constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom.

Signed Date:

..

Chairman

Deputy P J D Ryan