Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 1 August 2008

Present

Deputy P J D Ryan, Chairman Deputy C Egré, Vice-Chairman Connétable J L S Gallichan Deputy R Le Hérissier

Apologies

Connétable D Murphy

In attendance

M. Haden, Scrutiny Officer

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

1

Minutes of meetings held on 19th and 24th June were approved and signed

2

Matters arising - Action update noted.

Draft letters to Chief Minister re Corporate Management Board and to the Minister for Treasury and Resources re Land Transactions Tax and commercial property transactions were approved. It was agreed that copies of the letter to the Chief Minister should be sent to all States members and the media.

3.

Draft States Business Plan

(a) Financial forecasts - The Panel received notes of meetings between its adviser and the States Economic Adviser and Professor Allsop of the Fiscal Policy Panel and noted that further discussions would be held with other members of the forecasting group which advised the Minister for Treasury and Resources on the financial forecasts. The Panel also noted comments of the Comptroller and Auditor General in an e-mail dated 11th July 2008.

The  Panel  discussed  the  apparent  tendency  to  under-forecast income  in  order  to  constrain  States  expenditure.  The  Panel acknowledged that reducing public expenditure was a high priority for the Minister for Treasury and Resources and also for the public. It was clear that in the past there had been a tendency for States Members  to  try  to  utilise  any  apparent  surplus  income  for  new spending initiatives. However, the Panel was mindful that forecasts could equally be used  in a different political climate to promote increased States spending.

The  Panel  therefore  came  to  the  view  that  it  would  be  more appropriate for financial forecasts to be removed from the possibility of political influence. It believed that it would be preferable for States members to take spending decisions based on objective financial information rather than income forecasts which might have been manipulated to a political end. The Panel suggested that forecasts might be published separately from the States Business Plan by the Statistics Unit, in the same way that other economic information, such as inflation figures, was produced.

The Panel considered lodging an amendment to the draft States Business  Plan  to  this  effect  but  agreed  instead  to  prepare  a comment asking that this suggestion be considered by the next Council of Ministers for its Strategic Plan.

The Panel requested that its adviser be asked to prepare a draft report  and  recommendations  based  on  his  discussions  with members of the forecasting for consideration by the Panel at its next meeting on 22nd August 2008.

2. Property Plan 2009 - The Panel received notes of a meeting held between Deputy Egré and Constable Murphy with the Director of Property Holdings. The Panel noted that the discussion had been held on a confidential basis as it referred to matters arising from the recent Condition Survey undertaken on all States buildings which had yet to be finalised.

The Panel noted that a further meeting had been arranged with the Director of Property Holdings in three months time at which pointed he expected to be able to share with Panel members further details about  actions  arising  from  the  Condition  Survey  and  about  the proposed Office Strategy.

The Panel agreed that this method of working with Senior Officers enabled members to have access to important information and to understand better how key strategies were being developed. The Panel  reserved  the  right  to  conduct  a  public  enquiry  into  these matters at some point in the future and was of the opinion that these discussions would lay the groundwork for such an enquiry.

3. Information Services - The Panel noted that a meeting had been arranged between Deputy Egré and the Director of Information Services.

4. Human  Resources  -  The  Panel  agreed  to  request  the opportunity for a similar meeting Deputy Le Herissier and Deputy Egré with the Director of Human Resources.

5. Business Planning process - The Panel noted that the report from its adviser had been delayed due to technical difficulties. The Panel agreed to defer discussion of this issue until its next meeting.

6. Finance Sub Panel - The Panel considered how the role of the Finance Sub Panel could be enhanced. The Panel believed that it was important that there should be a single group of members with a clearly understood mandate and responsibility  for monitoring the corporate  financial  strategy  and  the  process  of  developing  the

Business Plan. It was maintained that this was clearly within the remit of the Corporate Services Panel but that membership of the Sub  Panel  should  be  drawn  from  a  wide  group  of  members to ensure that all other Panels were represented in investigating overall corporate financial issues.

The Panel recognised the level of disinterest among many members for  financial  scrutiny  which  was  perceived  as  difficult  and unrewarding but it was felt that opportunities for Panels to drill down for  information  on  specific  areas  of  expenditure  were  being neglected.

To ensure that the Sub Panel develops an authoritative voice it should  be  supported  by  strong  expert  advice.  The  Panel recommended that identification of such advice should be a priority for a new Corporate Services Panel.

4

Panel Work Programme

The Panel noted an update summary of current reviews. It noted that  a  complaint  had  been  received  from   Deputy  J.  Gallichan regarding the premature release of its report on the Importation of Bovine Semen to the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society. The Panel acknowledged that this had been an error which had  occurred  in  the  context  of  the  time  pressures  involved  in finalising the report in time for the States debate in the last sitting before the summer recess.

The  Panel  considered  and  approved  review  evaluations  for  the reviews on the Proposed establishment of the Jersey Enterprise Board and the Proposed Importation of Bovine Semen and agreed to refer these evaluations to the Chairmen's Committee.

The  Panel  wished  to  express  its  appreciation  for  the  work undertaken by the Scrutiny Officer in finalising the report on the proposed Importation of Bovine Semen within a very tight timescale and the Chairman undertook to write a formal letter of appreciation.

The Panel reviewed its work programme for the remaining months of the year (in addition to the States Business Plan - see above).

1. Migration Policy - It was noted that the Migration Advisory Group had forwarded copies of the draft Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Law 200- and the first part of the draft Migration (Jersey) Law 200- dealing with Registration cards, in advance of the public consultation which was due to begin in August. The draft laws had been forwarded to the Sub Panel's adviser for comment.

2. Budget - It was recalled that the Panel had agreed to scrutinise the Minister's proposals for First Time Buyer discounts. However, any such discounts were likely to be of little immediate relevance given the recent developments in the mortgage market.

3. Deemed rent proposal for non-locally owned non-finance companies.  It  was  noted  that  the  Minister  for  Treasury  and Resources had issued proposals for public consultation with a view to introducing measures into the 2009 Budget. The Panel confirmed

its  continuing  interest  in  this  matter  and  agreed  to  request  that consultation responses should be made available and to indicate to the Minister that it intended to produce a report for the Budget. The Scrutiny  Officer  was  instructed  to  request  assistance  from  its adviser, Mr. R. Teather, and to prepare an estimate of expenditure on this review.

(d) Level Playing Field - It was agreed not to pursue this review in view of the brief time available before the end of the Panel's term of office and the complexities of the issues involved.

5

Meetings with Ministers

The Panel noted that there were issues it wished to discuss with Ministers  in  the  normal  course  of  its  six  monthly  meetings,  for example  the  role  of  the  Corporate  Management  Board  and  the central authority of the Treasury on financial matters. Mindful of the forthcoming  election  period  the  Chairman  undertook  to  seek clarification  from  the  Privileges  and  Procedures  Committee regarding the appropriateness of conducting public hearings in the period between the Senatorial and Deputorial elections.

6

Draft  Public  Elections  (Expenditure  and  Donations)  (Jersey) Regulations 200-

The Chairman informed the Panel that he had been invited to attend a meeting of the Privileges and Procedures Committee in order to discuss the views expressed in his letter to the media on the above legislation.

7

Matters noted by the Panel

Scrutiny Away Day - 26th September 2008 - items for discussion Panel's Quarterly Financial report

Chairmen's Committee Briefing Notes from meeting on 21st July 2008

Forthcoming Legislation within the Panel's remit Ministerial decisions -summary of recent decisions

Future Meetings: The Panel agreed to meet on 22nd August and 5th September 2008