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Public Accounts Committee Record of Meeting
Date: 31st March 2014 Meeting No: 44
Present | Deputy T. Vallois, Chairman Senator S.C. Ferguson Deputy G.C.L. Baudains Deputy R. Rondel Mr. I. Ridgway |
Apologies | Mr. J. Mills, C.B.E. Mr. R. Parker |
Absent |
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In attendance | Mrs. K .McConnell, Comptroller and Auditor General Mr. S. Cookson, Affiliate, Jersey Audit Office 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 20th February, 28th February and 3rd March 2014 were approved. |
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Item 2 03.03.14 512/1 (44) | 2. Conflicts of Interest No conflicts of interest were declared. |
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Item 7 03.03.14 1443/10 (57) | 3. Comptroller and Auditor General Report: Public Audit in Jersey (R.77/2013) The Committee was advised that the Chairman and the Scrutiny Manager had met with the Chief Minister and the Chief Executive, States of Jersey on 13th March 2014 to confirm the position regarding implementation of the recommendations made in R.77/2013. Having received assurances that the Chief Minister continued to support full implementation of the recommendations made and had agreed that the necessary legislation should be drafted, lodged and debated by July 2014, the Chairman had concluded that the Committee should not need to lodge a related proposition seeking States' endorsement of the recommendations. The Committee recalled that the States would need to consider reappointing the Comptroller and Auditor General |
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| during 2014. Whilst acknowledging and endorsing the Committee's unqualified confidence in the existing office holder, the Chairman confirmed that she would feel uncomfortable endorsing the appointment or reappointment of any professional to the office until such time as the series of issues highlighted in R.77/2013 had been addressed satisfactorily. The Committee noted the position and recommended that the Chairman monitor the rate of progress closely. | Chairman | |
Item 4 03.03.14 512/18 | 4. Canbedone Productions Limited Grant The Committee noted that its supplementary report had been presented to the States on 4th March 2014 as P.A.C.1/2014 and that the Chairman had made a statement in the Assembly regarding the Committee's findings and recommendations. It was reported that the Minister for Economic Development and his department had expressed to the Chairman their concern regarding certain answers given to questions asked immediately following her statement. The Chairman had responded by reiterating the Committee's recommendation that legal advice should be sought on the technical matter of delegation of powers from Ministers to officers in respect of contracts. In this regard, the Chairman had drawn attention to potentially relevant differences in the wording of Financial Directions 5.1 and 5.5. Further to the above, the Chairman had re-confirmed that the Committee had received from the department a record of expenditure incurred by the film company and that the Committee had been mindful of this document when paragraph 2.18 of the supplementary report had been finalised. The Committee resolved to consider formal responses to its supplementary report at its next scheduled meeting. | IC | |
Item 3 03.03.14 512/20 | IC | ||
Hearing 2 The Chief Executive, States of Jersey and the Head of Information Services, Chief Minister's Department The Committee's officer was instructed to make the necessary arrangements. |
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Item 6 03.03.14 512/1(8) | 6. Comptroller and Auditor General: work programme The Committee –
Regarding the reports cited at (b) and (c) above, the Committee was satisfied that the various findings highlighted and recommendations made warranted further attention from the Committee. In this regard, the Committee instructed officers to –
Documentation received by the Committee regarding the above was classified as confidential in accordance with paragraph 3.2.1(b) of the Code of Practice on Public Access to Official Information. |
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Item 8 03.03.14 | 7. Future meetings The Committee noted that its next meeting would commence at 12:30 pm on 28th April 2014 in the Blampied Room. It further noted that Mr. S. Warr en would represent the Comptroller and Auditor General at the next meeting. | Cttee IC |