Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 22 February 2012

Present

Senator S.C. Ferguson, Chairman Deputy J.G. Reed, Vice-Chairman Connétable D.J. Murphy

Deputy S. Power

Deputy R.J. Rondel

Apologies

Absent

In attendance

Mr W. Millow , Scrutiny Officer

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

08/02/12 Item 5

513/1(40)

1. Quarterly Hearing with the Minister for Treasury and Resources

Consideration was given to a draft question plan for the Quarterly Public Hearing  with  Senator  P.F.C.   Ozouf ,  Minister  for  Treasury  and Resources. The Panel agreed areas of questioning, amending the question  plan  accordingly,  and  allotted  responsibility  for  leading  on question areas to Panel Members. It was noted that the broad areas of questioning  would  be  provided  to  the  Department  of  Treasury  and Resources in line with the Code of Practice for Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee. The Scrutiny Officer was also requested to confirm how much time had been allotted for the public hearing.

Consideration was given to the areas of responsibility that fell within the remit of the Minister for Treasury and Resources, which the Scrutiny Officer was requested to confirm.

The Panel agreed that the primary focus of the public hearing should be questioning  of  the  Minister  and  the  Scrutiny  Officer  was  therefore requested  to  ask  that  the  Minister  merely  be  accompanied  by  his Assistant Minister and the Treasurer of the States.

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08/02/12 Item 7

513/1(45)

2. Medium Term Financial Plan

The Panel recalled that a request had been made to the Department of Treasury  and  Resources  for  documentation  relating  to  the  Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and noted that advice had been received to the effect that no further documentation was currently available. It was noted that a briefing from the Treasurer of the States on the MTFP had therefore been arranged for 1:00pm on 8th March 2012.

08/02/12 Item 3

513/32

3. Population and Migration  

The Panel recalled its agreement that the Population and Migration Review should be undertaken in two parts. It was noted that Part 1 would include consideration of the recently published census results and the implications of the results for population policy and that it would lead to the presentation of a report ahead of the debate on the new Strategic Plan. Part 2 would subsequently involve consideration of

matters relating to the Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law which was due to be implemented in July 2012 and also pick up on any matters that might have been highlighted by the work of Part 1. It was noted that the Panel would therefore need to remain focused. The Panel requested that a plan be drawn up to show how the review would progress and how the two parts of the review would fit together.

The Panel noted that the Vice-Chairman had spoken with the expert advisor via telephone conference on 20th February 2012. It was noted that the expert advisor could be asked to provide a written brief for the Panel on the matters at hand.

Given the narrow focus of Part 1 of the review, the Panel agreed that it would  not  seek  written  submissions  at  this  stage  but  that  it  would consider  inviting  submissions,  and  undertaking  public  engagement, during Part 2 of the review.

Consideration was given to a draft media release to announce the beginning  of  the  review. Amendments  to  the  media  release  were identified  and  it  was  subsequently  approved,  as  amended.   It  was agreed that the media release should be dispatched on 23rd February 2012.

The Panel confirmed that it would invite the following to public hearings:

• Chief Minister
• Chairman – Migration Advisory Group
• Minister for Economic Development
• Minister for Housing
• Chief Statistician – Statistics Unit

The Scrutiny Officer was requested to investigate the availability of the identified witnesses. The Panel agreed that it would be beneficial to receive the Ministers for Economic Development and Housing on the same day.

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