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Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel Meeting No. 61
21st May 2008
Present Deputy G. P. Southern , Chairman
Deputy J. A. Martin
Connétable M. K. Jackson Deputy K. C. Lewis
Apologies Deputy A. Breckon
Absent
In attendance Nathan Fox, Scrutiny Officer
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
1. | Minutes The Chairman was delegated authority to approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 9th April 2008 following one amendment. | NJF |
2. Item 3 21.05.08 Also see item 5 | Matters Arising - Business Plan The Chairman informed the Panel that the Chairmen's Committee had met with the Council of Ministers on 15th May 2008 to discuss the scrutiny of the Annual and Departmental Business Plans. The Chairman indicated that he had raised with the Council of Ministers the issue of the Economic Development Department altering the format of its Business Plans. The Chairman had re- iterated his position that this had caused considerable difficulties in determining changes in priority in the apportionment of funds. The Chairman noted that some Panels were carrying out detailed work on the information currently available regarding their respective Departments' 2009 Business Plans. The Panel did not feel that it would be productive to expend time and energy on considering documents that represented only an initial draft of the forthcoming Business Plan. The Chairman informed that Panel that at the joint meeting, the Treasury and Resources Minister had indicated that he agreed with the Chairmen's Committee that budgeting process should in future start earlier in the year. |
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3. Item 3 05.03.08 | Employment and Training Opportunities in Jersey The Panel received an officer report in respect of the current employment review. |
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| The Panel noted a draft timescale for the review, which was to be conducted over approximately 16 weeks, with the report to be presented to the States on 8th September 2008. The Panel was initially concerned that the timescale as drafted would require considerable Panel involvement with the review during August. Officers were informed that this was not convenient as several members would be away during this period. It was therefore decided to reschedule the Panel meeting currently scheduled for 6th August 2008 to 30th July 2008, and to consider the draft report at this meeting. Officers could then develop the report in the absence of the Panel, and present an expended draft to the Panel at its meeting on 20th August 2008. The Panel also agreed to develop interim terms of reference within the main review, in order to ensure that a report could realistically be produced in the agreed timescale. It was decided that these would focus on youth employment, apprenticeships, and the education/work interface'. The Panel drafted an outline of these terms of reference, and the Chairman was delegated to finalise them with officers. The Chairman was also delegated to work with officers to produce a call for evidence to be published in the Jersey Evening Post. The Panel also agreed to engage an advisor to assist in the review. The Chairman was delegated to work with officers to develop a shortlist of advisers to be returned to the Panel for its consideration at its next meeting. The Panel received review files in respect of the aforementioned review. | NJF NJF MD |
4. Item 2 09.04.08 | The Role and Funding of Jersey Finance Limited The Panel recalled that it had received stakeholder feedback in respect of a draft report as above. The Panel considered a further drafted report amended in light of the submissions received from Jersey Finance Limited (JFL) and the Economic Development Minister. The Panel noted that the response from JFL was highly critical of the report. It expressed dissatisfaction with the content of the report and the process of review in the strongest terms. Although the Panel modified the report to an extent to reflect some specific criticisms, in general terms the Panel did not accept the assertions of the JFL that the report was biased and inaccurate. The Panel was of the opinion that the JFL was highly sensitive to criticism, and furthermore it challenged the validity of a number of statements in the response. |
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| A separate issue seemed to the Panel to be the lack of understanding of the Scrutiny process demonstrated by the JFL in its response. The Panel considered that the JFL had a mistaken understanding about the objective not only of Scrutiny as a whole but the report on JFL in particular. The Panel was of the opinion that the JFL had been informed of the operation of Scrutiny by a source that did not have a complete understanding of the relevant provisions in Standing Orders and the Code of Practice. In light of the above, the Panel approved a response to the JFL that it was hoped would address the criticisms levelled at the Panel and it report. | NJF |
5. Item 3 21.05.08 Also see item 2 | Business Plan (2) The Panel received and noted an officer summary of the transcript of the Public Hearing held on 2nd May 2008 with the Economic Development Minister in respect of the Business Plan 2009. The Panel also received a summary of key objectives and key success criteria for the Economic Development Department in 2009, in confidence. |
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6. | Future meetings The Panel noted that the next meeting was due to be held on 25th June 2008 at 9.30am in the Blampied Room, States Building. |
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