Corporate Services - Approved Panel Minutes - 12 June 2013

Present

Senator S.C. Ferguson, Chairman Deputy J.G. Reed, Vice-Chairman Deputy R.J. Rondel

Apologies

Connétable D.J. Murphy

Deputy S. Power

Deputy T.A. Vallois [Co-opted for Item 3 under Standing Order 138(5A), Apologies for Item 3]

Absent

In attendance

Mr. W. Millow , Scrutiny Officer Miss S. McKee , Scrutiny Officer

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

513/1(1)

1. Panel Membership

The Panel recalled that it had on occasion recently been difficult to establish a quorum at Panel meetings and noted that Connétable D.J. Murphy was likely to be necessarily absent for the next few weeks. The Panel also noted that Deputy S. Power had advised that, in the short  term,  other  commitments  would  potentially  impact  upon  his capacity to attend Panel meetings. Given that the Connétable was currently unable to attend meetings, it was agreed that the Chairman would  correspond  with   Deputy  Power  in  order  to  determine  more precisely how long his capacity to attend might be affected.

SF

2. Records of Meetings

The Panel approved the records of the meetings held on 15th and 18th April and 2nd, 8th, 20th, 22nd and 29th May 2013, as well as the private record of the meeting held on 20th May 2013. The records were signed accordingly.

29/05/13 Item 1

513/37(4)

3. Public Finances Law

The Panel was advised that written questions had been dispatched to both Senator P.F.C. Ozouf , Minister for Treasury and Resources, and Senator I.J. Gorst , Chief Minister, but that responses had yet to be received. The Panel was also advised that a request had been made for the relevant minutes of meetings of the Council of Ministers and that the minutes would be received once signed. It was noted that correspondence from the Comptroller and Auditor General had been received. The  Panel  recalled  that  it  had  agreed  to  compare  the Employment  of  States  of  Jersey  Employees  (Jersey)  Law  2005 against the  Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 and the proposed amendments. It was recalled that Deputy Vallois had suggested the Panel  consider  the  matter  and  it  was  therefore  agreed  to  seek clarification from the Deputy as to the purpose of the comparison.

Consideration was given to draft heads of report and it was agreed

SM

that they provided an appropriate structure for the Panel's report. The heads of report were therefore approved.

The Panel recalled that it had received correspondence in respect of comments which had been provided by the Fiscal Policy Panel (FPP) to  the  Department  of  Treasury  and  Resources  with  regard  to  the proposed amendments as well as the response of the Department to those comments. It was noted that the Panel had not been informed of whether the FPP had made any subsequent comments and the Scrutiny Officer was therefore requested to look into the matter.

The Panel was advised that its request for the job description of the Treasurer of the States had been refused. The Scrutiny Officer was requested to make further enquiries. The Panel agreed that, if it were ultimately required, it would write to the Minister for Treasury and Resources about the matter, copying in the Chief Minister.

The Panel considered whether there had been a law-drafting brief for the proposed amendments. The Scrutiny Officer was requested to seek clarification on the matter.

Consideration was given to the potential impact that adoption of the proposed amendments would have on the role of the Chief Executive and the work of the Corporate Management Board. It was agreed to request  a  written  submission  from  the  Chief  Executive  on  these matters.

The  Panel  noted  that  the  proposed  amendments  were  due  to  be debated by the States Assembly on 18th July 2013. The Panel was advised that, as matters stood, presentation of the report before that date would most likely be feasible although it would probably not be feasible for the report to be presented two weeks before the debate, as  had  initially  been  hoped.   The  Panel  considered  whether  the subsequent work it had agreed would make presentation before the date of debate difficult and whether, as a result, a request for the debate to be deferred should be made. It was agreed to discuss the matter further at the Panel's subsequent meeting.

SM

SM SM

SM

SM

SM

08/05/13 Item 6

513/1(41)

4. New Hospital

The Panel noted that a briefing on proposals in respect of a new hospital had been arranged for 3:00pm to 4:15pm on 30th July 2013, to which the Health, Social Security and Housing (HSSH) Scrutiny Panel had also been invited. It was noted that information regarding the proposals had been provided by the Minister for Treasury and Resources during the most recent sitting of the States Assembly. It was agreed that the matter needed to be followed up although it was noted that, under current arrangements, the HSSH Scrutiny Panel was leading on the topic.

20/05/13 Item 1

513/1(41)

5. Modernisation Programme

The Panel recalled that there had been an undertaking to provide it with information by the Chief Executive and the Director of Human Resources during the briefing on 20th May 2013. The Panel was advised that the information had yet to be received and the Scrutiny Officers were therefore requested to follow up the matter.

WM

10/06/13 Item 1

513/37(3)

6. Minister for External Relations

The Panel noted that Minister for External Relations (SR9/2013) would be  presented  to  the  States  on  13th  June  2013.   The  Panel  was advised that the report had been distributed under embargo to the Chief Minister's Department and subsequently to all States Members and that it would in due course also be sent that day to the media.

The  Panel  considered  the  course  of  the  review  and  noted  that challenges had been presented during production of the Panel's report by the difficulty in achieving a quorum at Panel meetings. It was agreed that Panel Members should be diligent in responding to e-mails in which Panel approval was sought. The Panel was advised that work on the review had been affected by the fact that more work had been required on the Starter Home Deposit Loan Scheme review than had initially been planned. The Panel agreed it would undertake a formal evaluation of the Minister for External Relations review at its next meeting.

WM

08/05/13 Item 12

513/38

7. Deposit Loan Scheme

The  Panel  recalled  its  agreement  to  request  an  update  from  the Minister for Treasury and Resources and to write to the Chief Minister to advise that one recommendation in  Starter Home Deposit Loan Scheme (SR5/2013) would require consideration by the Council of Ministers. The Panel was advised that correspondence had been dispatched and that both Ministers had responded to advise that the matters in question would be addressed. Consideration was given to whether  there  was  currently  sufficient  information  available  about when the scheme would be introduced and how potential applicants would be informed. The Scrutiny Officer was requested to follow up matters with the Chief Minister's Department. The Panel also agreed to request from the Department of Housing the material which it had reportedly been distributing to interested members of the public.

The Panel evaluated the process followed during the review. It was noted that the review had involved more work than had been planned when the topic had initially been chosen and that, as a result, some evidence  had  arrived  once  drafting  of  the  report  had  begun. Nevertheless,  there  had  not  been  too  much  of  a  delay  in  the presentation of the Panel's report. It was noted that expenditure on the review had amounted to £7,720. The Panel agreed that, in future, it would potentially be beneficial to hold a meeting with the relevant Minister(s) both once a Scrutiny Report had been presented and once the consequent Ministerial Response had been presented. The Panel considered whether any improvements could be made to ensure that States Members received information arising from Scrutiny Reviews (including Ministerial Responses) sufficiently far ahead of debates. It was agreed that this was a matter which the Panel could cover with the  Chief  Minister  at  a  Quarterly  Public  Hearing  and  which  the Chairmen's Committee should also be asked to consider.

WM WM

WM

08/05/13 Item 10

513/1(40)

8. Quarterly Public Hearing with Chief Minister

The Panel noted that its next Quarterly Public Hearing with the Chief Minister had been moved to 1:00pm on 25th June 2013. Apologies were received from Deputy R.J. Rondel and it was therefore noted that care would need to be taken to ensure that the Panel would not be inquorate.   Consideration  was  given  to  the  question  plan  and

amendments were agreed, which the Scrutiny Officers were requested to enact.

SM / WM

08/05/13 Item 4

513/36

9. Population and Migration

The Panel received an update in respect of Population and Migration matters and considered its subsequent course of action. This part of the meeting was held in private session under Paragraph 3.2.1(a)(xiv) of the Code of Practice on Public Access to Official Information and a private record was therefore taken.

08/05/13 Item 7

513/1(41)

10. Work Programme

The Panel considered its Work Programme for 2013. It was noted that two significant reviews would be undertaken during the second half of the year, namely of Population Policy and the Long-Term Plan and in respect of the 2014 Budget. The Panel was advised that there was currently some scope for a short review to be undertaken before the summer recess. It was agreed that this time would be used for further follow-up work in respect of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and in preparation for its review of the 2014 Budget. The Panel agreed, however, that a list of propositions currently listed for debate and which had been lodged by either the Chief Minister or the Minister for Treasury and Resources should be compiled in order that the Panel  could  ascertain  whether  any  significant  matters  had  been missed.

WM

10/04/13 Item 4

513/35

11. Medium Term Financial Plan

The Panel considered a paper prepared by the Scrutiny Office in relation to the recommendations made in Review of the Medium Term Financial Plan (SR18/2012) and the current status in respect of those recommendations.

The  Panel  recalled  that  SR18/2012  had  contained  eleven recommendations, ten of which had been accepted by the Minister for Treasury and Resources. The Panel noted that Recommendations 4, 7 and 9 had effectively been implemented, although further follow-up work would be possible. The Panel subsequently noted that the target date for action in respect of Recommendations 1, 2, 6 and 10 had yet to be reached and that it was therefore not yet feasible to determine whether or not they had been implemented. The Panel was advised that further work would be required in respect of Recommendations 5, 8  and  11  in  order  to  determine  whether  or  not  they  had  been implemented.

The Panel agreed that further work should be undertaken and that consideration would also be given to Recommendation 3, albeit that the Minister for Treasury and Resources had not accepted it. It was agreed  to  correspond  with  the  Minister  with  particular  regard  to Recommendations 6, 8, 9 and 10. The Panel was advised that its review of the 2014 Budget would provide an opportunity to follow up many of the recommendations which had been made in SR18/2012.

WM

513/1(47)

12. 2014 Budget

The  Panel  noted  that  Draft  Amendment  (No.21)  of  the  Standing Orders of the States of Jersey (P.65/2013) had been lodged by the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC) and further noted that, if adopted, P.65/2013 would see the lodging period for the draft Budget

extended from six weeks to eight weeks. Consideration was given to the impact that such a measure would have on future Budgets, in particular during years in which an election would take place, and the Scrutiny Officer was therefore requested to consult the Greffier of the States about the matter. The Scrutiny Officer was also requested to research the provenance of the proposal.

The Panel noted that a briefing on the 2014 Budget would take place at  9:30am  no  1st  July  2013. The  Panel  was  advised  that  a subsequent briefing date of 20th September 2013 had been proposed. The  Scrutiny  Officer  was  requested  to  correspond  with  Panel Members in order that the date could be confirmed.

WM WM

WM

13. Future Meetings

The Panel noted that its next scheduled meeting would take place at 2:00pm on 26th June 2013.