Public Accounts Committee - Approved Committee Minutes - 28 April 2104

Present

Deputy T. Vallois, Chairman Senator S.C. Ferguson Deputy G.C.L. Baudains Deputy R. Rondel

Mr. I. Ridgeway

Mr. J. Mills, C.B.E.

Mr. R. Parker

Apologies

Mrs. K .McConnell, Comptroller and Auditor General

Absent

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 meetings held on 31st March and 10th April 2014 were approved and signed.

Item 2 31.03.14

2.  Conflicts of Interest

No conflicts of interest were declared.

Item 3 31.03.14

1443/10 (57)

3.  Comptroller  and  Auditor  General  Report:  Public Audit in Jersey (R.77/2013)

The Chairman informed the Committee that she had written to the Chief Executive on 9th April expressing the Committee's growing perception that the executive was reluctant to implement the recommendations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General in her report R.77/2013. This was notwithstanding the Chief Minister's assurance, given to the Chairman  during  October  2013,  that  he  endorsed  the recommendations.

The Committee remained concerned that the necessary reforms would not  be  achieved  during  2014. In  this  regard,  the  Committee  was mindful that the Chief Minister was seeking to lodge a proposition to re- appoint  the  Comptroller  and  Auditor  General  in  advance  of  the necessary  legislative  changes  and,  further,  that  the  Chairman  was reluctant  to  endorse  any  such  proposition  until  such  time  as  the legislative framework governing the office of Comptroller and Auditor General had been suitably reformed.

The Committee reaffirmed its endorsement of the stance taken by the Chairman on the matter of the recommendations made in R.77/2013 and  the  reappointment  of  the  Comptroller  and  Auditor  General.   It further  noted  and  endorsed  the  Chairman's  proposal  to  seek

clarification of the position by way of an oral question to the Chief Minister  without  notice  during  the  States  Assembly  meeting commencing on 29th April 2014.

Chair -man

Item 3 02.09.13

512/1(30)

4.  Working Practices

The Committee considered a discussion paper concerning the working practices of the Committee.

The Committee acknowledged that the Integrated Care Records review had  been  broad  in  scope  and  had  necessitated  a  labour-intensive review of several large files of documentary evidence. It nevertheless recalled that the review had been relatively unusual insofar as it had been launched by the Committee unilaterally in the absence of a prior report by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The Committee identified a need –

1. to raise  the  standard  of  background  material  submitted  by States departments in response to initial information requests from the Committee,
2. to utilise electronic storage of Committee documentation with the aim of improving accessibility and improving administrative efficiency, and
3. to allow sufficient preparation time before the commencement of public hearings.

Regarding item (b) above, the Committee was concerned to learn that ongoing attempts by the States Greffe to facilitate a trial of revised panel/committee support arrangements, in which review documentation would be made securely and remotely accessible to members online, had hitherto been unsuccessful. Although the Committee was advised that Information Services, Chief Minister's Department had not yet been able to make the necessary services available on the States network, the Committee noted that suitable services had been implemented at the Jersey Audit Office with assistance from Information Services.

The Committee determined –

• that all background information requests forwarded to States departments by the Committee's officer should henceforth make clear  that  a  structured  written  departmental  summary  of  the review  topic  was  required,  to  which  relevant  evidential background material should be appended,
• that documentation should be submitted to the Committee on a digital first basis until further notice, and
• that  it  should  receive  a  briefing  paper  at  its  next  meeting confirming  when  the  Committee  would  be  provided  with dedicated and secure online storage.

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5.  Scrutiny Matters Newsletter

The Committee considered its draft entry in the forthcoming Scrutiny Matters newsletter. Having made a series of minor amendments, the Committee approved the entry.

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Item 4 31.03.14

512/18

6.  Canbedone Productions Limited Grant

The  Committee  received  from  the  Chief  Minister's  Department  the executive response to PAC.1/2014 (£200,000 Grant to Film Company:

Supplementary Report').

The Committee was disappointed to note that the response had been received over one week after the deadline set in the Code of Practice for Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee. It further noted that the response constituted an interim response insofar as certain actions recommended had not yet been completed.

The  Committee  agreed  that  the  report  should  be  presented  to  the States as soon as possible. It further agreed that a comment should be appended to the report confirming that the Committee looked forward to receiving a further response by June 2014.

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Item 1 10.04.14

512/20

7.  Integrated Care Records

The Committee received and reviewed transcripts of the public hearings held on 10th April 2014, together with a draft transcript of the public hearing  held  by  the  Health,  Social  Security  and  Housing  (HSSH) Scrutiny Panel on 14th April 2014, before which the Clinical Lead for Information Technology, Health and Social Services Department had appeared.

The Committee concluded that it possessed sufficient evidence to allow for the production of a draft report, save that it would require sight of the outline business case for the Informatics Strategy that had reportedly been submitted to the Treasury and Resources Department as part of the Medium Term Financial Plan 2016-2018 development process. No further public hearings would be required.

In relation to the draft transcript of the public hearing held by the HSSH Scrutiny  Panel,  the  Committee  noted  the  account  given  of  the circumstances  leading  to  the  production  of  the  new  Informatics Strategy.

It was agreed that the draft report would, amongst other things, need to draw  out  certain  corporate  governance  issues  highlighted  by  the evidence received.

The  Committee  instructed  its  officer  to  prepare  a  draft  report  for circulation at or before the Committee's next scheduled meeting.

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Item 6 31.03.14

512/1(8)

8.  Comptroller and Auditor General: work programme  The Committee –

1. gave  further  consideration  to the  Comptroller  and  Auditor General's report on internal audit (R.36/2014 refers), and
2. received an oral update on progress against the audit plan.

Item 8 28.04.14

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9.  Internal Audit Review

The Committee, having given further consideration to the Comptroller and  Auditor  General's  report  on  internal  audit  (R.36/2014  refers), formally commenced a review of the internal audit function and, in this regard –

1. delegated to the Chairman responsibility for finalising the terms of reference and scoping document for submission to the Chairmen's Committee, and
2. agreed to hold a public hearing on the afternoon of 21st

Cttee  / IC

May 2014, to which the Chief Executive, the Treasurer of the States and the Chief Internal Auditor would be invited.

Item 7 31.03.14

10.  Future meetings The Committee –

1. agreed that it should hold a preparatory meeting at 12.30 pm  on  21st  May  in  Blampied  Room  and  prior  to the commencement of the formal public hearing, and
2. noted that its next scheduled meeting would commence at

12.30 pm on 2nd June in Blampied Room.