Chairmen's Committee - Approved Committee Minutes - 26 February 2013

Present

Deputy T.A. Vallois, President

Deputy S.G. Luce , Vice-President

Senator S.C. Ferguson

Connétable M.P.S. Le Troquer (Representing Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel)

Deputy J.H. Young

Deputy K.L. Moore

Apologies

Deputy J.M. Maçon

Absent

In attendance

Mr. W. Millow , Scrutiny Officer Mr. T. Oldham , Scrutiny Officer

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

1. Minutes of previous meetings

The records of the meetings held on 25th January and 1st February 2013 were approved and signed accordingly. The record of the joint meeting held with the Council of Ministers on 9th January 2013 was approved.

The Committee considered the record of its meeting held on 22nd January 2013 and, in particular, that part of the meeting during which the Committee had considered the matter of a perceived conflict of interest on the part of the Chairman of the Environment Scrutiny Panel. It was noted that the Chairman had concerns regarding the accuracy of the record in respect of the precautions which he should be expected to take, particularly with regard to the appointment of expert advisors and the avoidance of contact with certain officers. The Committee agreed that the record would not be signed. Further consideration would therefore be given to the record at a subsequent meeting.

2. Panel / PAC Matters

The Committee noted that there were no individual matters arising from the Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee which required its attention.

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3.  Ministerial  Responses:  Follow-up  on  Accepted Recommendations

The  Committee  considered  the  subject  of follow-up  to  Scrutiny Reports. It was agreed that it was important for Scrutiny Panels to follow  up  reports  in  order  to  determine  whether  accepted recommendations had been implemented. It was noted that, in some instances, Ministerial Responses had been unclear as to whether  recommendations  within  the  corresponding  Scrutiny Report had been accepted or rejected and, if the former, what the

timescale would be for their implementation. It was agreed that the President would discuss the matter with the Chief Minister at their meeting later that week.

The Committee noted that some recent Ministerial Responses had not been presented to the States in accordance with the timescales laid down in the  Code of Practice for Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee. It was agreed that this was a matter for  Scrutiny  Panels  to  take  up  individually  with  the  relevant Ministers.

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4. Panel Activity Reports

The Committee noted the Scrutiny Panels' Activity Reports. The Committee considered that the Activity Reports indicated that an encouraging amount of work had been, and was currently being, undertaken.

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5. Media Relations

The  Committee  considered  the  current  high  level  of  activity amongst the Scrutiny Panels and noted that it had become more likely as a result that more than one Panel might seek to launch a review at the same time or that more than one Panel might seek to present  a  report  at  the  same  time.   It  was  agreed  that  the Committee  would  therefore  need  to  be  mindful  about  the  co- ordination  of  publicity  and  coverage  of  Scrutiny  work.   The Committee  was  advised  that  the  Scrutiny  Office  currently monitored the drafting of reports by Panels in order to ensure that presentation dates did not clash.

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6. Quarterly Hearings: Efficiency

The  Committee  recalled  its  previous  discussion  of  whether podcasts and transcripts of public hearings could be made more accessible by being indexed. The Committee noted that work on this  matter  had  subsequently  been  undertaken  by  the  Scrutiny Office. The Committee confirmed that it would be beneficial for broad,  high-level  indexes  to  be  provided  for  Quarterly  Public Hearings, given that a variety of topics could be covered at any one Quarterly  Public  Hearing,  but  that  such  indexes  would  not  be required for public hearings held in respect of reviews.

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7. Website

The Committee noted that upon presentation of a recent Scrutiny Report to the States, a copy had not been immediately available on the Scrutiny website. It was considered that material such as Scrutiny Reports and media releases needed to be available online at the time of publication. It was noted that this could currently prove  problematic;  for  example,  the  embargo  upon  a  Scrutiny Report might be raised at 12:00am but the report itself might not become available on the Scrutiny website until the start of the working day. The Scrutiny Officers were requested to look into the matter to see how this situation might be addressed.

Further consideration was given to the Scrutiny website and it was noted that the location of transcripts of Quarterly Public Hearings were currently difficult to identify on the website.

TO / WM

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8. Citizenship Programme

Item 6 510/3(2)

The Committee recalled that two schools [Les Quennevais and Le Rocquier] had agreed to take part in the Citizenship project. The Committee noted that dates of 22nd May and 26th June 2013 had been  suggested  respectively. The  Committee  noted  that  the Council of Ministers would meet on both days, as well as two Scrutiny Panels, and it was therefore agreed to enquire whether 23rd May and 27th June 2013 might also be feasible.

TO / WM

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9. Social Networking

The  Committee  noted  that  work  was  underway  in  respect  of establishing a Twitter account for Scrutiny.

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10. Newsletter – Edition 11

The  Committee  noted  that  work  would  be  undertaken  for publication of the next edition of the Scrutiny Matters newsletter to occur during the week beginning 22nd April 2013.

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11. 2012 Financial Report

The Committee noted the financial report for 2012 and the 2012 travel and entertainment costs. The Committee was advised that underspent funds were returned to the Department of Treasury and Resources. It was further noted that if all budgeted expenditure in 2012 had been realised, there would have been little underspend in 2012. The Committee considered whether Panels could potentially in future make greater use of expert advisors to undertake bodies of  work  on  the  part  of  Panels,  thereby  decreasing  the  time commitment required of Panels themselves and allowing Panels to cover more areas of work. It was noted that this approach would potentially be beneficial.

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12. Away Morning / Afternoon

The  Committee  recalled  the  discussion  at  the  meeting  of  all Scrutiny Members regarding an away morning or afternoon. It was noted that some topics for discussion at such an event had been suggested  although  it was  apparent  that  some  suggestions fell more  appropriately  within  the  remit  of  the  Privileges  and Procedures Committee. It was suggested by the Chairman of the Health, Social Security and Housing Scrutiny Panel that, rather than holding an away morning or afternoon, Panels should consider how their work upheld the States' strategic aims. It was agreed that, notwithstanding the Chairman's own reservations regarding an away morning or afternoon, it would be beneficial for her to prepare a paper on the matter for subsequent consideration at an eventual away morning or afternoon.

It was agreed that any away morning or afternoon would not take place until after the imminent referendum was held on 24th April 2013 but that it would occur before the summer recess of the States Assembly. The Committee further agreed that Panels would be asked to consider their work to date and to identify what had worked well and what had worked less successfully.

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13. Future Meetings

The Committee noted that it would meet at 2:30pm on 13th March 2013 in order to meet the States of Guernsey Review Committee.

Consideration was given to when the Committee's next scheduled meeting would occur and it was agreed to meet on 26th March 2013.