Economic Affairs - Approved Panel Minutes - 7 February 2008

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Agenda matter

Action

1.

Minutes

The Minutes of the meetings held on 23rd January 2008 were approved.

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2.

Item 2 23.01.08

Draft Price and Charge Indicators (Jersey) Law 200- (Matters Arising)

The  Panel  noted  that  an  amendment  to  the  Economic Development Minister's proposition entitled Draft Price Indicators (Jersey) Regulations 200-(P.14/2008) had been lodged au Greffe' by Senator L. Norman.

This amendment was intended permit exclusive GST pricing in respect of items that were pre-priced before importation into the Island, such as pre-packaged food, newspapers and magazines.

The  Panel  recalled  that  the  original  proposition  contained provisions which would allow retailers selling pre-priced imported items to display a GST percentage on the packaging or on the shelf, and obviate the requirement upon them to re-price these goods to display an inclusive sale price.

Senator Norman's amendment would require that shops express the amounts to be added in pence, not percentages. The opinion of the Senator, as expressed in the report to the amendment, was that this would provide additional clarity to consumers in respect of the price of goods.

The Panel considered the amendment, and raised concerns that the requirements on businesses to physically amend the amounts to be added to pre-packaged goods outweighed any benefits that might be obtained in terms of clarity to the customer.

Furthermore, the Panel considered that if the additional cost was exactly 3 per cent, this would result in total bills containing fractions of a penny, and if whole pennies were charged then the customer

would not be paying 3 per cent.

The Panel did not therefore consider that its intention to produce an amendment to the Draft Price Indicators (Jersey) Regulations 200- was affected by this amendment.

The Panel decided that it would produce comments on both the amendment and the proposition.

Officers were directed to contact the Channel Island Co-Operative Society,  the  GST  Director,  Mr  D.   Warr ,  Chair  of  the  Jersey Chamber  of  Commerce  Small  Business  Group,  and  Mr.  P. Brakespeare, to determine their opinion on the amendment

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3.

Chairmen's Committee Briefing Paper

The Panel received a briefing paper in respect of the Chairmen's Committee meeting of 18th January 2008.

The Chairman informed that Panel that the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel had  withheld an advance copy of a proposition regarding  the  development  of  a  Jersey  Enterprise  Board'.  He indicated that the Chairman of that Panel had been conflicted in this regard and had therefore decided not to review the subject. He expressed concern that following this decision that the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel Chairman had not informed other Panels of the existence of this proposition.

The Chairman was of the opinion that confidentiality agreements should not apply to the passage of information from one Scrutiny Panel to another. He also expressed serious dissatisfaction that this matter had been withheld, and indicated that were the Scrutiny system to be operated in a more hierarchical manner (while not desiring  this  to  be  the  case)  the  Chairman  of  the  Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel would have been severely sanctioned by other members, and by the Chairmen's Committee.

He also indicated that this and other incidents had cast serious doubt on the suitability of the Chairman of the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel to occupy that post.

4.

Jersey Telecom Privatisation

The  Panel  received  an  invoice  in  the  sum  of  £4000.00  from Hanson Renouf Barristers and Accountants, in respect of work on the  Telecoms  Privatisation  review  on  behalf  of  the  Economic Affairs sub-Panel (Telecoms Privatisation).

The Panel approved this expenditure.

Officers were directed to take the appropriate action.

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5.

Item 5 23.01.08

The Role and Funding of Jersey Finance Limited

The Panel received an officer report detailing the progress and

current position of the review.

The Panel indicated that this review was now in its closing stages, and that the officers would be expected to develop a draft report on the subject for approval following the attendance of Mr. G. Cooke, Chief  Executive  of  Jersey  Finance  Limited  (JFL)  at  a  Public Hearing.

The  Panel  was  informed  of  concerns  that  the  review  might,  if concluded  in  the  near  future,  fail  to  meet  in  full  the  terms  of reference as agreed. The Panel was reminded that these were –

1. To review the original terms of reference of JFL, and to assess development and functions of JFL against these.

2. To evaluate the role, effectiveness and balance of public and private funding.

3. To review JFL's Business planning and reporting.
4. To consider comparable experiences from other jurisdictions.

5. Any other pertinent matters that may arise during the course of the review.

Term  of  reference  No.  1  had  been  met  to  the  extent  of consideration of the original terms of reference of JFL. However, the Panel was informed of concerns that term of reference No. 2 was not achievable due to the difficulty of measuring the benefit of Jersey Finance Limited to the finance industry. Term of reference No. 3 had not been met as the Panel had at no point examined a Business Plan for JFL. Term of reference No. 4 had not been examined in detail, partly due to the difficulties of examining the situation in other jurisdictions. Term of reference No. 5 was met by default.

The Panel, while it acknowledged the concerns, considered that the forthcoming Public Hearing with the Chief Executive of JFL would address these satisfactorily.

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6.

Item 6 23.01.08

States Annual Business Plan 2009

The Chairman informed the Panel that the draft Annual Business Plan  2009  was  currently  available  only  under  a  confidentiality agreement.

The  Chairman  did  not  consider  this  to  be  satisfactory,  and indicated his preference for a public debate to be held on matters of  public  expenditure  from  the  initial  point  of  development. Furthermore, he did not consider that the justification for keeping this information confidential (that the information was exempted from  release  under  the  Code  of  Practice  on  Public  Access  to Official Information Section 3.2.1 (a) (xiv) – premature release of draft policy) was suitable.

Accordingly, the Chairman had not agreed to sign a confidentiality

agreement with the Executive in respect of this draft Business Plan information.

The Panel therefore noted that it would not receive any information regarding the Annual Business Plan at this time.

7.

Item 7 23.01.08

Employment and Training Opportunities in Jersey

The Panel recalled that the Chairman had directed that all non- Executive  States  members  be  invited  to  join  a  Sub-Panel  to conduct the  Employment  and Training Opportunities  in  Jersey' review.

The Panel noted that few replies had arrived, and that the only positive response had been received from Deputy Le Claire.

The Panel was minded to welcome Deputy Le Claire onto the Sub- Panel, however it was established during the course of the meeting that the States Greffe had on previous occasions indicated that developing a Sub-Panel consisting of an entire Scrutiny Panel plus additional members was not appropriate as it effectively constituted co-option of non-members onto a Panel.

It would therefore not be possible to have the Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel plus Deputy Le Claire, as had been envisaged, operating as a Sub-Panel.

As  one  aspect  or  another  of  the  Employment  and  Training Opportunities in Jersey review was appealing to all members, the Panel regretfully concluded that it would be unfair to insist that a member step down for the duration of the review to permit Deputy Le  Claire  to  take  part,  and  that  therefore,  notwithstanding  the invitation, the Panel would not be able to work with him in this instance.

The Chairman directed officers to prepare correspondence to both Deputy  Le  Claire  and  all  non-Executive  members  outlining  the position.

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8.

Item 9 23.01.08

Future meetings

The Panel noted that it had intended to hold its next meeting on 20th February 2008. Members indicated that there would not be a quorum available on this date, and accordingly the Panel decided to meet instead on 13th February 2008.

Additionally, the Panel noted that its concerns over the use of the Blampied Room by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel had been addressed, and that with the exception  of two dates the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel had agreed to return the room to the Panel.

Officers were directed to make the appropriate arrangements.

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