Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 23 November 2007

Present

Deputy P J D Ryan, Chairman

Connétable J L S Gallichan (Item 2 onwards) Connétable D Murphy (Items 1-3 only) Deputy R Le Hérissier

Deputy C Egré

Apologies

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 24th, 25th, 31st and the 6th November 2007.

2.

Item 2c 25.10.07

Item 7 25.10.07

Matters arising

1. Private Pension Provision – The Panel requested for the Scrutiny Officer to contact the Income Tax Department to request for an update on progress made to date on private pension provision on the Island, to include the key areas that are being specifically looked into.

2. Drug  Trafficking  Offences  (Amendment)  (Jersey)  Law  200- Connétable  Murphy  informed  the  Panel  that  he  had  discussed  his concerns regarding this amendment with the Comptroller and Auditor General. Rather than the funds collected from this amendment being transferred into the Consolidated Fund, Connétable Murphy wished for the money to be used to assist those recovering from drug addictions with rehabilitation. It was noted that Connétable Murphy had previously asked a question in the States regarding the confiscation funds run by the Treasury and Resources Department, and that he would review the response that he had received to this question.

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3.

Item 3 25.10.07

States Annual Business Plan and Budget 2008

1. The Panel noted that Deputy Reed had lodged an amendment to the 2008 Budget, seeking to transfer an increased amount of £38 million into the stabilisation fund, rather than the proposed £25 million. It was further noted that the Chairman did not support this amendment.

2. It was noted that the Scrutiny Officer had recently attended a course on Business Planning in the UK, and would be producing a paper for the  Panel  to outline  the  methods  adopted  in  other  jurisdictions  for Scrutiny of their Business Plans.

3. The Panel considered the outcome of the Chairmen's Committee discussion with the Chief Minister on 14th November. It was agreed that

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the Panel wished to form a Sub-Panel to undertake Scrutiny of the Business Plan and Budget. The focus of the Sub Panel would be on the overall  financial  strategy  and  financial  framework  and  the  business planning process.

It was agreed to seek a local adviser, possibly a former Chief Officer in the States.

It was noted that valuable assistance had been received from the Head of  Financial  Planning  in  understanding  the  operation  of  the Consolidated Fund

The following members agreed to form the Sub Panel: Deputy Ryan (Chairman);   Connétable  Murphy;  and   Deputy  Le  Hérissier. It  was agreed that the Chairman should contact Connétable Butcher, to see if he wished to be a member of the Sub-Panel.

It was agreed that the Sub-Panel should be constituted as soon as possible, and the Panel therefore requested that a scoping document and draft terms of reference be prepared accordingly.

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4.

Item 9 17.09.07

Financial Forecast

The Panel noted a draft report and recommendations for the States Financial Forecasts. It was agreed to defer consideration of this item until the Business Planning Sub-Panel had been formally constituted.

5.

Draft Code of Practice

The Panel noted the proposed alterations to the Draft Code of Practice, and agreed that it wished to comment on the following items:

9.9.  Dialogue with departmental officers has been very useful on specific issues such as GST and the operation of the Consolidated fund.  Mutual  confidence  has  grown  as  a  result.  This  has  included occasions when officers have been prepared to come to the Scrutiny office  to  meet  the  Chairman.  Taken  strictly  9.9  would  limit  this opportunity.

11.8.  The  Panel  was  relaxed  about  sending  its  findings  and recommendations to Ministers along with factual sections of its draft reports. It believed that the two way flow of information was likely to be beneficial to both sides.

The Panel requested for these matters to be passed to the Scrutiny Manager,  who  would  be  co-ordinating  all  Panels  responses for the Chairmen's Committee.

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6.

Machinery of Government Review

The  Panel  discussed  the  report  by  the  Privileges  and  Procedures Committee  review  group,  and  agreed  that  it  had  strong  concerns regarding the balance of the report. In general it was felt that this review was heavily focused on the Scrutiny function, with little analysis of the Executive side of Government.

It was further felt that to base analysis of the Scrutiny function on its first year of operation was the incorrect approach to take, as the Department had moved on considerably in its second year. Initiating the review to focus on the first year of operation meant that the conclusions and recommendations had been reached based on very limited information.

The Panel requested for the Scrutiny Officers to produce a short report highlighting  its  concerns  with  the  recommendations  made,  to  be circulated to members for consideration before being forwarded to the

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Chairmen's Committee.

7.

2008 Work Programme

It was noted that the Panel was committed to the following reviews during 2008:

• Migration Policy Review

• Resource  implications  of  the  draft  Freedom  of  Information legislation – The Panel requested for a draft Scoping Document and Terms of Reference to be prepared.

• States Business Plan and Budget

• Possible further work on the deemed rent proposal for non- locally  owned  non-finance  companies,  once  the  Minister  for Treasury and Resources brings his proposals to the States.

• GST – Financial Services Industry and De Minimis level issues
• Level Playing Field Review

The Panel agreed the following course of action for the following topics:

• Introduction  of  Stamp  Duty  on  Share  Transfer  Property Transactions – it was requested for the draft legislation to be sent to Richard Teather for comment.

• Constitutional Review – it was noted that the briefing for States Members  would  take  place  on the  17th  January,  and  it  was agreed that this matter should be considered further following this event.

The  Panel  requested  for  the  Scrutiny  Officers  to  compile  a  paper outlining  reviews  scheduled  for  2008,  to  incorporate  the  proposed timescales, and estimated Officer time.

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8.

Item 4 24.10.07

Property Holdings Department

The Panel noted that Deputy Ryan, Connétable Murphy, and Deputy Egré had attended a meeting with Mr David Flowers, Director, Property Holdings Department, and noted the notes from this meeting. It was felt that this had been a very helpful meeting, and that Mr Flowers had been very informative.

9.

Departmental Budgets

The Panel noted a request from Deputy Ferguson to list any areas where the Panel believes their departments could be more efficient or effective in their use of funds. The Panel requested for the following issues to be highlighted:

Chief Minister's Department –

• IT Department ( Deputy Egré has had an initial meeting with the new Director  of  IT  to  discuss  the  Panel's  concerns,  and  a  second meeting date has been arranged)
• Human Resources Department

Treasury and Resources Department –

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 The issue of States office utilisation (Property Holdings Department)

10.

Forthcoming Legislation

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

11.

Current Reviews

The  Panel  noted  an  update  summary  for  its  current  reviews  and requested for the Waterfront Report that would shortly be presented to the States to be circulated to the full Panel for consideration.

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12.

Future Meetings –

Full Panel Meeting – 13th December at 9.30 am (Blampied Room)