Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 19 June 2008

Present

Deputy P J D Ryan, Chairman

Connétable D Murphy

Connétable J L S Gallichan

Deputy C Egré, Vice-Chairman

Deputy R Le Hérissier

Connétable P. Hanning (for items 4 and 7(c))

In attendance

Mr M. Haden, Scrutiny Officer

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

1

Minutes  of  meetings  held  on  8th,  15th  and  28th  May  2008  were approved and signed.

2

Matters arising - Action update noted. The Panel requested a copy of a model efficiency statement from the Treasury.

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3.

Item 5 080508

Procurement Strategy

The Panel welcomed the Director of Procurement to discuss progress with the Procurement Strategy. The Panel was briefed on:

• The  Centre  Lead  Action  Network  (CLAN)  policy  for  devolving procurement strategies across the States organisation

• The factors which have contributed to difficulties in implementing procurement disciplines through all departments

• The activities of the Procurement Lead Group
• The reasons for the lack of savings in 2007
• The current targets for savings of £2.25 million
• Staffing

The  Panel  thanked  the  Director  for  her  informative  briefing  and requested  access  to  copies  of  recent  reports  to  the  Corporate Management Board

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4

States Annual Business Plan: Financial Forecasting

The Panel welcomed Professor Michael Oliver to discuss his potential role in assisting with the monitoring the process and outcomes of the financial forecasts which are produced to inform the States Business Planning and Budgeting process.

In  a  briefing  paper  for  the  Panel  Professor  Oliver  outlined  six  key

questions on how forecasting is conducted. In working with the Panel he suggested that he would

• address  the  questions  and  draw  upon  and  examine  the experiences of other jurisdictions with relevance to Jersey

• provide  the  panel  with  regular  updates  on  the  wider macroeconomic framework and how these might impact on the economic forecasts

• offer advice on economic issues under the Sub Panel's remit.

The Panel considered that it was important to examine more rigorously the assumptions made by the forecasting group and to question the current presentation of economic information. There needed to be some clarity on how to measure the success or failure of forecasts. The Panel suggested that the current forecasts did not demonstrate an adequate level of risk analysis and it believed that the public expected a more sophisticated debate on economic prospects.

The  Panel  noted  that  the  Fiscal  Policy  Panel  (FPP)  would  provide comments on the appropriateness of the States financial position and forecasts.  The  Panel  considered  that  by  scrutinising  the  financial forecasts it could complement and not duplicate the work of the FPP.

The Panel thanked Professor Oliver and he withdrew from attending the meeting.

Deputy R.G. Le Herissier, who was a colleague of Professor Oliver at Highlands, also withdrew from the meeting while the Panel considered whether to engage Professor Oliver as an adviser.

The Panel agreed that Professor Oliver could provide valuable economic expertise and that this would strengthen its ability to ask searching and relevant questions on the work being done on forecasting. It agreed therefore to engage Professor Oliver as adviser for the period of the remaining life of the Sub Panel (that is until the reappointment of Panels after the forthcoming elections). The Panel agreed that it would aim to prepare a report on forecasting to inform the debate on the States Budget in December.

The  Scrutiny  Officer  was  requested  to  draw  up  an  estimate  of expenditure for its consideration, together with a scope setting out clearly the terms of reference for the work to be undertaken by the adviser.

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5.

Review  of  States  Spending:  Report  of  Comptroller  and  Auditor General:

The Panel considered a briefing paper prepared by the Scrutiny officer on  issues  relevant  to  the  Panel's  remit.  The  Panel  considered  the following cross-cutting issues:

• Procurement (see item 3 above). The Panel agreed to give further consideration to procurement issues once it had received the reports requested from the Director of Procurement.

• Property  management  -  The  Panel  noted  issues  regarding  the funding  of  maintenance  had  been  highlighted  in  the  draft  2009 States Business Planning process. Deputy Egré informed the Panel that he had already had a number of private meetings with the Director of Property Holdings. He believed that it would be now appropriate to continue these meetings on behalf of the Panel on a formal basis. It was agreed to delegate responsibility for this matter

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to Deputy Egré and Constable Murphy and the Scrutiny officer was requested  to  arrange  a  meeting  with  the  Director  of  Property Holdings accordingly.

• IT Services - The Panel recalled that Deputy Egré was already in regular contact with the Director of IT Services and had previously reported on briefings to the Panel. Deputy Egré said that he would be investigating the issue of IT procurement procedures with the Director at their next meeting. The Panel agreed that this format of regular briefings was an appropriate form of monitoring progress with the IT strategy.

• Human  Resources  -  The  Panel  decided  to  request  a  briefing meeting with the HR Director in the autumn session.

Corporate  Management:  structure  and  resources  of  the  Chief Minister's department. The Panel noted that the increasingly multiple responsibilities of the Chief Minister's department was having an impact on its own workload with issues such as Bovine Semen, Jersey Enterprise Board, Urban Regeneration, Civil Aviation coming within its remit.

The Panel also recalled that it had written to the Privileges and Procedures Committee regarding codifying the terms of reference, modus  operandi  and  standards  of  conduct  for  the  Corporate Management Board. The Panel agreed that further work should be done  on  this  issue  and  agreed  to  revert  to  the  Privileges  and Procedures Committee.

The Panel noted that a briefing paper had already been submitted to the Chairmen's Committee outlining the above matters.

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6

Current Reviews

The Panel noted an update summary of current reviews and the following additional matters:

1. Jersey Enterprise Board - The Chief Executive had invited the Panel's  adviser  to participate  in  a  workshop  on  revised  proposals; however, it was agreed that this would not be appropriate as it would compromise a Scrutiny review of any further proposals.

2. Bovine Semen - Certain members of the Sub Panel were keen to investigate  an  alternative  conservationist  option  which  had  been suggested by the Panel adviser; however, this was not expected to delay the report beyond the promised deadline. The Chairman said that the Sub Panel would make every effort to achieve a comprehensive report within the timescale and without compromising the quality of the review.

3. Finance Sub Panel - The Panel noted the date for the next presentation of the States Business Plan (14th July) and a further briefing (21st July) which would provide an opportunity for States members to hear Ministers present and explain the key objectives for their department that are being proposed in the draft Annual Business Plan 2009. The Sub Panel had agreed to meet after this briefing for a discussion with its adviser on the strengths and weaknesses of the Business Planning process to date. The Scrutiny Officer was requested to ask the adviser to prepare a short briefing paper on this subject to be followed by a more detailed analysis following their discussion.

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7 Item 6

Land Transactions Tax

(a)  The Panel considered the review evaluation report prepared by

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the  Scrutiny  Officer  and  agreed  to  forward  it  to  the  Chairmen's Committee.

(b)  The Panel considered a summary of evidence received in respect of commercial property transactions. It was agreed to formally request the Treasury and Resources Minister to inform the Panel how he was going to progress this project.

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8.

Matters for noting:

Briefing Notes of Chairmen's Committee meeting on 23rd May 2008

- The Panel noted the Chairmen's Committee request to consider the proposal for an away day for Scrutiny members to consider the Internal Review into Working Practices but agreed that this was not required.

Forthcoming draft legislation - The Panel noted P.79/2008, P.80/2008 and P.81 relating to draft Regulations on confiscation orders and external forfeiture orders and agreed that they did not require scrutinising.

The Panel also noted P.90/2008 (draft Food Costs (Offset of Average GST) Bonus (Jersey) Regulations 200-). The Chairman indicated that he had certain concerns with this item.

Ministerial  decisions  in  May  -  The  Panel  noted  the  Treasury  and Resources Minister's proposition on funding for the Child Abuse enquiry. It  agreed  to  request  the  Public  Accounts  Committee  to  consider requesting the Comptroller and Auditor General to review these costs.

ITIS - The Chairman informed the Panel that he would be meeting Mr. Hamel and associates to discuss concerns regarding ITIS.

Date of next meeting - 1st August 2008 - The Panel agreed to cancel the  meeting  scheduled  for  4th  July  due  to  the  current  workload  on individual reviews and States sittings.

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