Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 17 September 2007

Present

Deputy P J D Ryan, Chairman Senator J Perchard, Vice Chairman Connétable D Murphy

Deputy C Egré

Apologies

Connétable J L S Gallichan

In attendance

Miss S Power, Scrutiny Officer

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

1.

Minutes –

The Panel approved the minutes of the meetings held on the 26th and the 30th July 2007.

2.

Item 2b 21.06.07

Item 2c 21.06.07

Item 7 21.06.07

Matters Arising

1. Jersey's independence - The Panel noted that H.M. Attorney General had been contacted on the 3rd August to request for

advice on the comments contained in the correspondence from Mr  D.  Pearce,  with  regard  to  the  EU  treaty  and  Jersey's relationship with the United Kingdom. It was further noted that no response had been received to this request to date. The Panel requested for Mr Pearce to be contacted and informed of this.

2. Corporate  ICT  –  The  Panel  noted  that   Deputy  Egré  had attended  a  meeting  with  the  new  ICT  Director  on  the  10th

September 2007, which had been very useful. It was agreed that this was an area the Panel wished to continue to monitor, and that it would be beneficial for Deputy Egré to have a further meeting with the ICT Director within the next couple of months.

3. Corporate Management Board – The Panel agreed that this was an area it wished to discuss with the Chief Minister at the six monthly meeting scheduled for the 2nd October 2007.

SP

3.

Forthcoming  Legislation  –  The  Panel  noted  the  items  of  draft legislation within its remit scheduled for debate by the States within the next month.

4.

Ministerial Decisions –

The Panel noted Ministerial Decisions within its remit for the period from 19th July to 31st August 2007, and requested for clarification of the

following Ministerial Decisions made by the Minister for Treasury and Resources:

1. Delegation of Powers – Re-approval of borrowing
2. Transport & Technical Services – Capital Budget Transfer

SP

c.  Housing Department Capital Budget Transfer

d.  Proposed Letting: Land to the South of Aviation Beauport, St Peter. The Public and The Jersey Electricity Company Limited.

5.

Overlap with the Public Accounts Committee –

The Panel discussed the difficulty that was sometimes experienced in terms of ascertaining whether certain topic areas fall within the remit of the  Corporate  Services  Scrutiny  Panel  or  the  Public  Accounts Committee. It was agreed that this was an area that would perhaps benefit from clarification, and requested for the Scrutiny Manager to be notified accordingly.

SP

6.

Property Holdings Department -

The Panel discussed the Property Holdings Department, and its remit. It was agreed that the Panel was unclear about the mandate and the directives of this department, and therefore requested for the Scrutiny Officer to prepare a briefing paper summarising the background to this department, with a view to helping to clarify these issues.

SP

7.

Centre for Public Scrutiny Paper –

The Panel noted the paper from the Centre for Public Scrutiny on the scrutiny  of  local  government  finance,  and  reiterated  its  support  for receiving training on budget scrutiny. It was noted that there were currently several options for this training that would be considered by the Chairmen's Committee in due course.

8.

Item 11 26.07.07

Item 10 26.07.07

Current Reviews –

The Panel noted an update summary outlining the current stage of each of its review, and further noted:

1. Zero/Ten Sub-Panel – The Panel's adviser was in the process of producing a "Layman's Guide" to the Shareholder Legislation to assist the Panel with the formation of its final report. It was agreed that once this document had been completed it would be beneficial for the Panel's adviser to attend a Sub-Panel meeting to provide an opportunity for this document to be discussed in more detail.

2. GST Sub-Panel  – The Panel agreed that despite the recent media coverage surrounding the implementation of GST, the Chairman would not make a public statement on this issue until the States Debate on the GST Regulations. It was agreed that the Panel maintained its support in terms of the principle of GST, and that the Chairman would make this clear during the States Debate.

9.

Item 6 26.07.07

States Annual Business Plan 2008 -

The Panel considered draft reports prepared by the Scrutiny Officer on the following issues:

1. Scrutiny of States financial planning
2. Financial forecasts 2002-2006

The Panel agreed that the Chairman would  work with the Scrutiny Officer on amendments to both reports.

PR/MH

10.

Strategic Initiatives Update –

The Panel received the Council of Ministers six monthly update report and highlighted the following issues as items it wished to discuss with

the Chief Minister at the six monthly meeting on the 2nd October 2007:

• Migration Policy (2.11.2 and 2.11.3)
• Property Holdings Department (6.2.5)
• Customer Services Centre (6.2.7)

• Study to identify public services that could be provided by the private sector (6.2.8)

• Future of Fort Regent (4.2.4)
• GAAP Accounts (6.2.6)

The Panel agreed to discuss the question topics in greater detail at its update meeting on the 25th September.

11.

Scrutiny Topic Proposal –

The Panel received and considered a Scrutiny submission on the Civil Service Complaints Procedure, and agreed that given the number of reviews it was currently undertaking it did not have the capacity to look into this issue. However the Panel requested for the Scrutiny Officer to send  the  document  to  Mr  Ian  Crich,  Director,  Human  Resources Department to request for any comments he has on the matter. The Panel further requested for the author of the document to be notified of this course of action accordingly.

SP SP

12.

Review into Scrutiny working practices –

The Panel received and considered the report that had been drafted on the internal review of Scrutiny working practices, and agreed that it did not wish to make any additions or amendments to this document.

13.

Item 5 26.07.07

Executive response to Scrutiny Reports –

The Panel noted this protocol which had been jointly agreed by the Council of Ministers and the Chairmen's Committee.

14.

Item 3d 17.05.07

Private Pension Provision –

The Panel noted that this was an issue that had received further media coverage earlier in the week, and requested for the Scrutiny Officer to contact  the  Minister  for  Treasury  and  Resources  to  request  for  an update on work being undertaken on this issue.

SP

15.

Future Meetings:

Panel update meeting – 25th September at 1 pm to discuss question areas to be raised with the Chief Minister.

Six monthly meeting with the Chief Minister – 2nd October at 9.30 am Full Panel Meeting – 25th October at 9.30 am