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Chairmen's Committee
Record of Meeting
Date: 7th July 2014
Present | Deputy T.A. Vallois, President Deputy S.G. Luce , Vice-President Senator S.C. Ferguson Deputy J.A. Hilton |
Apologies | Deputy K.L. Moore , Deputy J.H. Young |
Absent |
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In attendance | Mrs. K. Tremellen-Frost, Scrutiny Manager |
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
| 1. Minutes of previous meetings The records of the meetings held on 5th, 10th, 16th, 19th and 27th June 2014 were approved and signed accordingly. |
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1240/26(74) | 2. Civil Marriages: same sex couples [P.102/2014] The Committee considered the amendment to the above proposition lodged by Senator B.I. Le Marquand and noted that there was an intention to refer the matter to the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel under Standing Order 79. This would require the Panel to report back to the States Assembly the following week, 14th July 2014, to advise whether it wished to scrutinise the matter. Noting that the Senator's proposition could not be debated until 14th July in any case and that the proposition sought to charge the Chief Minister with a review into the matter, the Committee considered that referral to Scrutiny was a means to seeking a delay so that the amendment could be debated. It was considered that the use of Scrutiny in this manner was inappropriate. As a secondary matter, the Committee considered the timing. In the main, it had proven impossible to undertake reviews over the summer recess and with the elections in October a review of this subject would be impossible. Equally the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel, to whom it would be referred, already had a full workload, especially as it was to review the Budget 2015. The Committee agreed that the Chairman would advise the States of the above as appropriate and considered whether to contact Senator Le Marquand in advance of the debate. |
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511/1(58) | 3. Propositions lodged "au Greffe" late in the term of office. The Committee considered the number of important issues which had been lodged "au Greffe" recently and it was noted that throughout this term of office there had been an expectation by the States Assembly of input from Scrutiny. |
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| It was considered unacceptable that Ministers were ignoring Scrutiny and were bringing important propositions at this time such as Liquor Licensing Law, Family Friendly Regulations, and Aircraft Registration Law etc. Concerns revolved around Scrutiny not having been factored into the Executive work programme and poorly prepared background information supporting the propositions. These were placing Scrutiny in a difficult situation but there was little option but to advise the States of the position in which Scrutiny found itself and maybe to propose referrals back for the work to be undertaken properly and with appropriate time for Scrutiny. |
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10.06.14 Item 4 511/1(46) | 5. Legacy Report The Committee, having previously considered draft Heads of Report for its legacy report, considered and approved the overarching report. It noted that it would consider the complete draft Legacy Report at its next meeting. |
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10.06.14 Item 5 510/1(5) | 6. Codes of Practice: joint with Executive The Committee considered a first draft of a proposed Code between Scrutiny and Ministers and Assistant Ministers and Chairmen agreed to provide any comments to the Scrutiny Manager by 30th July 2014. Given that the next elections after those of 2014 would be May 2018, the Committee agreed that there should be an inclusion in the Code that propositions on major matters should be lodged before 30th September 2017 ie: six months prior to the end of the term of office with a realistic date for debate which factored in time for Scrutiny. It was also agreed that a clause should be added to state that propositions from non-Executive Members must first be considered by the relevant Minister and/or Council of Ministers before there was any involvement from Scrutiny. Scrutiny was established to hold Ministers to account not to hold "backbenchers" to account. It was further agreed to take up the offer of H.M. Attorney General to simplify the section on legal advice. The Committee agreed that it would read the draft joint Code and forward any comments to the Scrutiny Manager by 31st July 2014. | KTF Chairmen |
10.06.14 Item 5 510/1(5) | 7. Codes of Practice: Scrutiny The Committee considered a first draft of a proposed Code for Scrutiny which would be presented to the States. All Members involved in Scrutiny would be mandated to abide by this Code together with the joint Cade adopted by the States Assembly and Standing Orders relating to the Scrutiny function. It was agreed that the Members would forward any comments on this to the Scrutiny Manager by 31st July 2014. | Chairmen |
| 8. Panel Activity Reports These were taken as read. |
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10.06.14 Item 7 511/1(57) | 9. Electronic File Storage: Shared Area The Committee was apprised of a meeting between officers of the States Greffe and Information Services Department which had |
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| initiated action on this matter. It was noted that officers from the Information Services Department would be attending on the Privileges and Procedures Committee at the end of the week, after which it was anticipated that the matter would be progressed. | PPC GoS KTF |
| 10. Financial Report – 2nd quarter The Committee noted the 2nd quarter financial report. |
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| 11. Future meetings The Committee noted that its last meeting would be held on 28th August 2014, 9.30am-11.30am Le Capelain Room. The purpose of this meeting would be to give final consideration to the Legacy and Annual Reports. |
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