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Public Accounts Committee
Record of Meeting
Date: 2nd June 2014 Meeting No: 47
Present | Deputy T. Vallois, Chairman Senator S.C. Ferguson Deputy R. Rondel Mr. I. Ridgeway Mr. J. Mills, C.B.E. Mr. R. Parker Mrs. K .McConnell, Comptroller and Auditor General |
Apologies | Deputy G.C.L. Baudains |
Absent |
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In attendance | Mr. S. Warr en, Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Mr. I. Clarkson, Officer to the Public Accounts Committee Mrs. E. Turner, Scrutiny Officer, States Greffe |
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
| 1. Records of Meetings The records of the meeting held on 28th April 2014 were approved and signed. |
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Item 2 28.04.14 | 2. Conflicts of Interest No conflicts of interest were declared. |
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Item 6 28.04.14 512/18 | 3. Grant to Canbedone Productions Limited The Committee recalled that it was anticipating a further executive response to the PAC.1/2014 (£200,000 Grant to Film Company: Supplementary Report'). The Committee's Officer was instructed to contact the Chief Minister's Department and establish whether the additional response would be forwarded to the Committee by 23rd June 2014. | IC |
Item 4 28.04.14 512/1(30) | 4. Working Practices The Committee considered a further report on working practices and the matter of digital first working. The Committee was advised that the Information Services Department was not yet in a position to offer the Committee secure, shared and remote access to a dedicated document storage facility. Having noted that the Jersey Audit Office and various other comparable bodies were already benefiting from digital first working supported by the provision of secure cloud storage, and having recalled the extent to which existing paper- driven working practices were hindering the Committee's desire to achieve greater efficiency, the Committee agreed that the Chairman should raise the matter at the next meeting of the Chairman's Committee and, in turn, invite the Chairmen's Committee to refer the matter of IT provision to the Privileges and Procedures Committee. The committee discussed ongoing arrangements for provision of information for reviews. It was agreed that the Committee's Officer would consult with other Scrutiny Officers to establish whether certain issues regarding the structure and quality of departmental responses to initial information requests were being experienced by other Scrutiny Panels. | Chair- man / IC IC |
| 5 Annual Report and Accounts The Committee considered whether to conduct a review of the States of Jersey Financial Report and Accounts 2013. The Committee remained unconvinced that inconsistencies in coding practice across States departments had been fully addressed. It further expressed concern that although the quantity of information contained within the Annex to the Financial Report and Accounts had increased, the ultimate quality of management information contained therein had not improved significantly. The Committee was somewhat surprised to note that the Housing Department had been cited as a discontinued operation in the Financial Report and Accounts, notwithstanding that the final decisions on the matter of incorporation had yet to be taken by the States Assembly. The Committee, having noted that the Comptroller and Auditor General was reviewing the Financial Report and Accounts 2013, agreed to refer any matters arising to the reconstituted Committee by way of a legacy report. |
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Item 7 28.04.14 512/20 | 7. Integrated Care Records The Committee considered the first draft of its final report. Although the format and content of the report were broadly endorsed, it was felt that the complexity of the topic could better be mitigated by highlighting certain key findings and conclusions before the Executive Summary. The Committee resolved to give further consideration to the draft and to forward any comments to the Committee's officer by 9th June 2014. It was further agreed that a revised draft should be tabled for consideration at the Committee's 23rd June meeting. | Cttee/ IC |
Item 8 28.04.14 512/1(8) | 8. Comptroller and Auditor General: work programme The Committee received an oral update on progress against the audit plan. |
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| 9. Comptroller and Auditor General: Review of previous recommendations The Committee noted a draft project specification concerning a follow-up review of previous recommendations made by the C&AG. |
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Item 3 28.04.14 1443/10 (57) | 10. Comptroller and Auditor General Report: Public Audit in Jersey (R.77/2013) The Committee noted the lodging of the Draft Comptroller and Auditor General (Jersey) Law 201- and received comments on the same from the C&AG. The Committee was disappointed to conclude that an amendment would be required to align the draft Law with the spirit and the specific recommendations made in R.77/2013. In this regard, the Committee approved the submission of the necessary brief to the Law Draftsman's Office. The Committee considered the inclusion of the Human Rights provision at Article 10(3)(b) of the draft Law and instructed its officer to establish whether the relevant provision had been included within other comparable Jersey Laws and / or subordinate legislation. The Committee noted that the Chairman was minded to ask written questions of H.M. Attorney General in the States regarding the relative need for Article 10(3)(b) and concerning the scope of powers in the draft Law concerning access to data held on computer systems. | IC IC |
Item 9 28.04.14 1443/10 (60) | 11. Internal Audit Review The Committee, having noted the executive response to the C&AG's review of internal audit (R.36/2014), conducted a public hearing with the following witnesses in attendance – 1.30 pm - The Chief Executive, States of Jersey 2.30 pm - The Treasurer of the States 3.30 pm – The Chief Internal Auditor The Committee resolved to consider transcripts of the above hearings at its next scheduled meeting. | Cttee / IC |
Item 6 31.03.2014 | 12. Procurement Review The Committee, having noted the executive response to the C&AG's review of procurement (R.40/2014) and having noted the intention of the C&AG to monitor progress toward the implementation of the various recommendations made in the report, resolved to discontinue its own procurement review and to cite the topic in its legacy report as a possible topic for consideration in 2015. | IC |
Item 10 28.04.14 | 13. Future meetings The Committee agreed to the remaining meeting dates in 2014 as follows - Monday 23rdJune Monday 18th August Monday 15th September | Cttee |
Signed Date: ..
Chairman
Public Accounts Committee