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Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel
Record of Meeting
Date: 14th December 2011 Meeting No: 2
Present | Senator S.C. Ferguson, Chairman Deputy J.G. Reed, Vice Chairman Deputy R.J. Rondel |
Apologies | Connétable D.J. Murphy Deputy S. Power |
Absent |
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In attendance | Mr W. Millow , Scrutiny Officer Miss S. McKee , Scrutiny Officer |
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
| 1. Records of Meetings The record of the meeting of 30th November 2011 was approved and signed. |
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| 2. Action Updates The Panel noted the action updates. It was recalled that, in addition to quarterly public hearings, the Panel would hold quarterly meetings with Senator I.J. Gorst , Chief Minister, and Senator P.F.C. Ozouf , Minister for Treasury and Resources. The Panel confirmed that each quarterly meeting would take place before the respective quarterly public hearing. The Panel was advised that, at the Chairmen's Committee meeting on 12th December 2011, it had been agreed that going forward all Panel meetings were to be held in private. The Panel was also advised that all hearings would be held in public unless there was a rare exception whereby a matter was sensitive or confidential which would be determined by the Panel. The Panel was informed that briefing notes from the Chairmen's Committee's meetings would be circulated to all Scrutiny Members. |
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| 3. Visit to the House of Commons Consideration was given to the potential benefits that a visit to the House of Commons would have for the Panel. It was agreed that visiting a Select Committee meeting, as well as a discussion with the Committee Members, would be an educational experience. The Panel suggested that a visit to a Liaison Committee meeting would also be beneficial. Therefore the Scrutiny Officers were requested to research this possibility. The Panel suggested 15th March 2012 to 16th March 2012 as possible dates to visit the House of Commons. The Scrutiny Officers were requested to confirm Connétable D.J. Murphy's and Deputy S. Power's availability on these dates. It was noted that Deputy J.G. Reed would visit the House of Commons | SM SM |
| with the Health, Social Security and Housing Panel and not with the Corporate Services Panel. |
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| 4. Topic Proposal The Panel noted receipt of a topic proposal from a member of the public on the use of short contracts or "Zero Hour" agreements in Jersey in regards to employment. The Panel agreed that it would in due course discuss whether to review Human Resources and that it would therefore incorporate consideration of the proposal into that discussion. The Panel also noted that a second proposal had been forwarded by the same individual and requested for this to be circulated by the Scrutiny Officers. | WM |
30/11/11 Item 3 | 5. Future Meetings The Panel noted and agreed that it would next meet on Wednesday 11th January 2012. It was further noted and agreed that the Panel would attend a meeting with the Minister for Treasury and Resources on 25th January 2012 in order to discuss the Minister's work programme. The Panel was advised that it had received proposed dates of quarterly hearings from the Department of Treasury and Resources but that it had not yet received this information from the Chief Minister's Department. The Panel requested that the dates that had been discussed with the Department of Treasury and Resources be circulated. It also requested that the Scrutiny Officers contact the Chief Minister's Department for its proposed quarterly hearing dates. The Panel recalled its request for work programmes to be provided ahead of the first meeting with the Ministers and that they include timetables and an indication of which departmental section would lead on the work in any given area. | WM WM |
| 6. Scrutiny Reviews The Panel, noting receipt of a paper prepared by the Scrutiny Office, considered possible topics for review. During this consideration, the Panel agreed that, when considering topics, it would be important to take into account the question of public interest. It also noted that it would need to prioritise topics in order to best manage its work load. The Panel agreed that, following the recent publication of results for the 2011 Census, the subject of population would potentially be a good first review topic and it therefore requested the Scrutiny Officers to research this area. The Panel noted that consideration would also be given in due course to the areas of Information Services, International Relations, Human Resources and the Medium Term Financial Plan. It was also noted that the upcoming meetings with the Ministers would potentially inform a decision about review topics. Gigabit Jersey was also considered by the Panel as a potential topic to review. However, it was noted that a decision on the matter had already | WM & SM |
| been taken by the Minister for Treasury and Resources and that it might therefore be inopportune for the Panel to begin a review at this time. It was further agreed that the subject fell better within the remit of the Public Accounts Committee and therefore the Panel proposed to ask the Committee to consider it as a review topic. |
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