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Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel
Record of Meeting
Date: 12th March 2014 Meeting No: 149
Present | Senator S.C. Ferguson, Chairman Deputy J.G. Reed, Vice-Chairman Deputy R.J. Rondel |
Apologies | Connétable D.W. Mezbourian |
Absent | Deputy S. Power [Co-opted under Standing Order 138(5A), Absent for Item 1] |
In attendance | Miss S. McKee , Scrutiny Officer Mr. W. Millow , Scrutiny Officer |
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
513/41 | 1. Interim Population Policy The Panel received Mr. J. Filleul, President of Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. I. Taylor , Chief Executive of Chamber of Commerce, for a public hearing in respect of the Interim Population Policy. The proceedings were recorded in order that a transcript could be made. The Panel received an update on the status of the review. It was recalled that a draft Heads of Report had been circulated to the Panel for consideration at the meeting. After some discussion the Heads of Report were approved and, subsequently, the Panel was advised that report writing could begin. It was recalled that written questions had been sent to the Chief Minister on 5th March 2014 in which the Panel had requested that a response be provided by 10th March 2014. The Panel noted that, as of yet, no response had been received. The Panel was further advised that the information it had requested from the Department regarding business licenses and end of year statistics had not yet been received. The Panel noted the potential impact that delays in information being forwarded from the Department could have on the agreed timeframe for its review. In this regard the Panel agreed that, in the first instance, the Officer should follow up the requests that had been made in order to ascertain the information's status. The Panel further agreed that if the information had not been forthcoming by Monday 17th March 2014 then a letter should be sent to the Chief Minister asking when the information would be made available and outlining the implications of the delay for the completion of the Panel's report. It was noted that such a letter could be used as a template in the future if the Panel faced similar issues while undertaking other reviews. The Panel was advised that the Institute of Directors (IoD) had corresponded with the Scrutiny Office and expressed interest in contributing to its review. The Panel noted that, in the first instance, IoD had been requested to submit a written submission to the Panel expressing its views regarding the proposed policy. The Panel agreed | SM SM |
| that due to its tight timeframe it might not be possible to receive IoD at a Public Hearing but that a written submission would be gratefully received. The Scrutiny Officer was requested to provide the Panel with a project plan for its review. The Panel noted that, due to personal circumstances, Deputy S. Power had been unable to attend a number of meetings and Public Hearings since he had been co-opted onto the Panel for its review of the Interim Population Policy. The Panel agreed to end the co-option and for the Chairman to write to Deputy Power about this matter. | SM SF |
| 2. Records of Meetings The records of the meetings held on 20th, 21st, 24th, 26th and 28th February 2014 and a private record of the meeting held on 21st February 2014 were approved and signed accordingly. |
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06/03/14 Item 2 513/37(5) | 3. Implementation of European Legislation The Panel received an update on the status of the review. The Panel noted that a Public Hearing with the Minister for External Relations had been held and that responses to its written questions had been received. The Panel was advised that draft Heads of Report would therefore be circulated for Panel consideration and that, once the Heads of Report had been approved, drafting of the report could commence. | WM |
21/02/14 Item 1 513/42 | 4. Public Sector Pensions The Panel received an update on the status of the review. It was advised that the process of engaging an expert advisor had begun and that a number of companies had been approached. It was further advised that one of the companies that had been contacted had queried the amount of time that was available to undertake this work and whether it would be sufficient. The Panel recalled that the draft Law had been lodged on 11th March 2014 and was due to be debated on 29th April 2014. It was further recalled that the draft Law was an enabling law and that the Regulations would be debated in July 2014. The Panel noted that under new procedures, once the draft law had been approved by the States Assembly the Regulations could be lodged immediately. The Panel recalled that it had approved a revised Scoping Document and Terms of Reference on 7th March 2014. The Panel was advised that the Scoping Document had allowed provision for a day's worth of Public Hearings and had identified the Chairman of States Employment Board (i.e. the Chief Minister) and the Chairman of the PECRS Committee of Management as potential witnesses. Consideration was given to extending this provision to allow for the Panel to receive an employee representative at a Public Hearing. The Panel recalled that it had previously been advised that once the draft Law had been lodged, unions would ballot their members on the proposed reforms. The Panel noted that the decision had previously been made not to receive evidence from Unions because of the ballot and the risk of information duplication. The Panel agreed to include provision within the Scoping Document for a Public Hearing with an employee representative. The Officer was requested to amend the Scoping Document accordingly. | WM |
| The Panel noted the tight timescale it had to complete the review before the debate on 29th April 2014. It was further noted that extending the Scope of the review beyond what had already been agreed by the Panel would put even greater strain on the timeframe. The Panel was advised that more consideration would be given to the timetable by the Officer and that it would be kept under review. Consideration was given to whether the Chairman would be asked, once the principles of the draft Law had been adopted, if she wished to have the draft Law referred to the Panel under Standing Order 72, notwithstanding that the Panel might already have begun a review of the draft Law. The Scrutiny Officer was requested to seek confirmation as to whether a draft Law which was currently being reviewed by a Panel could be referred to Scrutiny by the States Assembly in that way. The Panel noted that a paper on repayment of the PECRS Pre-1987 Debt had been received and circulated following the briefing to the Panel on 21st February 2014. The Scrutiny Officer was requested to re-circulate the document. | WM WM |
16/02/14 Item 5 513/1(41) | 5. States Employment Board The Panel recalled its agreement to defer consideration of whether to undertake a Scrutiny Review in respect of the States Employment Board at its last meeting. The Panel was advised that a request had been made to the Chief Executive for more information in regards to the timescale in which the draft amendments to the Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005 were to be lodged and subsequently debated. It was further advised that, as of yet, no response had been received. The Officer was asked to follow-up on this request. The Panel agreed to await the timetable for the draft amendments before an ultimate decision was made on whether or not to undertake a Scrutiny review. | SM |
12/02/14 Item 7 513/1(41) | 6. States of Jersey Development Company The Panel noted receipt of a third topic proposal that it had received in respect of the proposed development of the Esplanade Quarter. It was recalled that the first two proposals had been circulated by email to the Panel on 24th February 2014 ahead of the previous Panel meeting. The Panel noted that a response had been sent to each of the three individuals thanking them for their topic proposals and advising that their concerns would be forwarded to the Panel for its consideration. It was agreed that further correspondence should be made which provided an update of the Panel's actions in regards to this subject. It was noted that some of the matters raised within the third topic proposal fell within the remit of other Scrutiny Panels such as the Environment Panel and Economic Affairs Panel. Subsequently, the Panel requested that such matters be directed to the Panels to which they related. The Panel recalled that a letter had been sent to the Board of SoJDC on 3rd March 2014 requesting confirmation about the actions which the Board had taken in respect of the issues raised in P.15/2014 and about the reassurance which the Board could thereby provide to States Members on those issues. The Panel was advised that no response as of yet had been received from the Board. | WM SM/ WM |
| The Panel noted that Senator A. Breckon's Proposition (P.15/2014) was still due to be debated on 18th March 2014. It was further noted that the proposition could potentially be referred to the Panel under Standing Order 79 but there would be no automatic call-in. The Panel noted that the debate would assist in its decision as to whether or not to undertake further work in respect of this subject. The Officer was requested to re-circulate private minutes from previous briefings that the Panel had received in respect of SoJDC. | WM |
513/1(40) | 7. Quarterly Public Hearing with the Minister for Treasury and Resources The Panel considered a draft question plan for its Quarterly Public Hearing with the Minister for Treasury and Resources on 13th March 2014. The Panel identified amendments and additions to the question plan, which the Scrutiny Officers were requested to enact. | WM / SM |
513/1(40) | 8. Quarterly Public Hearing with the Chief Minister The Panel noted that a public hearing was due to be held with the Chief Minister at 4:15pm on 27th March 2014. The Panel identified a number of subject areas to question the Chief Minister on and the Officer was requested to draft a question plan. | SM/ WM |
513/1(41) | 9. Extradition (Jersey) Law 2004 The Panel noted receipt of correspondence from the Chief Minister in respect of proposed amendments to the Extradition (Jersey) Law 2004. The Panel agreed to accept the offer of a private briefing on the draft law amendments once these had been developed. The Officer was requested to correspond with the Department accordingly. | SM/ WM |
26/02/14 Item 10 513/1(41) | 10. Work Programme The Panel noted the status of its Work Programme for 2014. |
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| 11. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next scheduled meeting would take place on 26th March 2014. |
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