Economic Affairs - Approved Panel Minutes - 26 March 2008

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Agenda matter

Action

1.

Minutes

The  Minutes  of  the  meeting  held  on  5th  March  2008  were approved.

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2.

Item 5 05.03.08

Economic Development Work Programme 2008 – briefings (Matters Arising)

The  Panel  recalled  that  it  had  previously  discussed  its dissatisfaction with the management of the a briefing held on 4th March 2008 at the Radisson Hotel in respect of the Economic Development Department's plans for 2008.

The Panel decided that it would be preferable for it to receive documents detailing the salient points of any further briefings from the Department before they occurred. This would permit the Panel to prepare itself for the issues raised, and provide an opportunity for the Panel to formulate questions for the Minister.

Officers  were  directed  to  draft  a  letter  to  the  Economic Development Minister outlining the Panel's requirements as above.

NJF

3.

Item 4 07.02.08

Jersey Telecom –Treasury and Resources Minister response

The Panel received a response from the Treasury and Resources Minister in respect of findings and recommendations resulting from the supplementary report into the privatisation of Jersey Telecom (JT).

In general terms the Panel noted that the tone of the response was highly critical of its work. The Panel was of the opinion that as time passed  the  value  of  its  report  and  the  misguided  tone  of  the response would become apparent.

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Specifically,  the  Panel  noted  that  the  Minister's  response challenged  a  number  of  assertions  made  to  the  Panel  by  the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA).

Officers were directed to prepare a letter to the JCRA to determine that organisation's opinion of the criticism inherent in the response.

The Panel also noted that the response suggested that the Minister had received advice to the effect that [JT employees] are some of the best protected employees in Europe'. The Panel was not able to reconcile this statement with the facts as it understood them, and accordingly directed officers to prepare a letter to the Treasury and Resources Minister seeking clarification in this regard.

4.

Item 7 05.03.08

The Role and Funding of Jersey Finance Limited

The Panel recalled that it had been due to consider a draft report in respect of the above review.

The Chairman indicated that he felt at this point that the report was too conciliatory, and that further work should be carried out in respect of JFL's lobbying role and funding.

He indicated that the draft report was to be provided to the Panel at its next meeting.

The Chairman noted the concerns of officers that the lead officer for the review was scheduled to depart prior to the next meeting. He stated that the report would be completed, with the exception of stakeholder review, before this time.

5.

Item 6 05.03.08

Scrutiny Newsletter

The Panel considered a draft submission for the third Scrutiny Newsletter to be published on 19th May 2008.

The Panel noted that the submission contained a member profile' of   Connétable   Jackson ,  an  outline  of the  Jersey  Telecom  (JT) review process and its role in maintaining JT in States ownership, general  information  on  the  Panel,  and  future  topics  for consideration.

The Panel directed officers to review the JT section to emphasise the  Scrutiny  input  into  the  process  of  considering  privatisation, rather than the outcome of that process. Also, the Panel decided that it would appreciate a section which called on the public to indicate to the Panel what topics they considered important.

Connétable   Jackson  agreed  to  provide  details  of  his  main objectives and political standpoint for his member profile.

The Panel recognised that it would have only one more meeting prior to the date of publication, and accordingly delegated authority to the Chairman to approve the final newsletter submission.

6.

Collated Review Recommendations

The Panel received an officer report detailing the recommendations made in all of its review to date, and the associated Executive response.

In light of this information, the Panel directed officers to contact the JCRA to determine if any investigation had been carried out into possible cross-subsidy between Jersey Post and its subsidiary, Pro-mail.

NJF

7.

Item 6 07.02.08

Business Plan

The Panel received a report from the Council of Ministers outlining draft proposals following the review by departments of the impacts of the provisional cash limits proposed for 2009.

The Panel noted that the message to Scrutiny for the first three years of Ministerial Government appeared to be that the States was unable to work to a budget.

9.

Future meetings

The Panel noted that the next meeting was due to be held on 23rd April 2008 at 9.30am in the Blampied Room, States Building. The Panel noted that it would have only one officer to assist it at that stage, and that that officer would be absent from the Island on this date.