Economic Affairs - Approved Panel Minutes - 10 July 2015

Present

Deputy S.M. Brée, Chairman Connétable M.J. Paddock Deputy D. Johnson

Apologies

Connétable J.E. Le Maistre

Absent

In attendance

Mr. M. Orbell, Scrutiny Officer

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

1. Records of meetings

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10th June were approved and signed.

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Item 1 19.11.14

515/1(1)

2. Vice-Chairman

Following the recent resignation of Connétable Le Maistre from the chairmanship of the Panel and Deputy Brée's subsequent election as Chairman by the States on 16th June, the Panel agreed to appoint Deputy Johnson as Vice-Chairman.

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Item 2 10.06.15

515/32

3. Ports of Jersey Incorporation

1. Members agreed that the draft transfer regulations received from the Economic Development Department appeared to be acceptable and the Panel would make no comments on them.

2. Members discussed P.68/2015 (Ports of Jersey Limited: Approval of First Board and Terms of Office) lodged by the Minister for Treasury and Resources on 30th June 2015. It was noted that this included a somewhat  selective  quote  from  the  Panel's  comments  on  the Incorporation (Draft Air and Sea Ports (Incorporation) (Jersey) Law 201-  (P.5/2015):  comments),  which  acknowledged  the  Panel's request for the States to approve the appointment of the first Board of Directors for Ports of Jersey Limited, but not the reason why this had been requested. It was agreed that the Chairman would address this matter during the debate, by reminding States Members of the Panel's  concerns  about  the  possibility  of  undue  influence  being wielded by individuals holding more than one directorship of States- owned bodies, and/or sitting on other States-appointed panels or committees at the same time.

Members  also  considered  the  question  of  the  identity  of  the Shareholder, which in the latest version of the Memorandum and Articles  of  Association  had  been  changed  from  the  Minister  for Treasury and Resources and the Treasurer of the States to States of

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Jersey  Investments  Ltd.  The  Panel  had  queried  this  but  the department's  initial  response  was  not  considered  to  explain  the matter satisfactorily; the Scrutiny Officer confirmed that a request for a more detailed explanation had already been submitted. It was agreed that Deputy Johnson would consider the Memorandum and Articles in more depth and liaise with the Scrutiny Officer regarding possible additional questions.

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Item 3 10.06.15

515/1/1(1)

4. Work programme

Rural Economy Strategy (RES)

The Panel noted an email received from the Economic Development Department on 6th July concerning the Rural Economy Strategy. It indicated that no substantive information regarding the strategy would be available until after a meeting of Senior Officers due to take place on 23rd July. It was suggested that earlier enquiries at officer level might elicit some information on the options being considered.

Visit Jersey

The Panel noted an offer to meet with representatives of Visit Jersey. It was agreed to follow this up in September.

Condor Ferries

The Panel noted a draft scoping document for a possible review of the new fast ferry service on the northern route. The Panel noted that another sailing of the Condor Liberation had been cancelled (on 8th July) owing to a technical problem causing delay which took the crew outside their permitted working hours. Members agreed to ask for a detailed  briefing  from  the  department  on  the  latest  situation.  The Scrutiny Officer was asked to arrange for this to take place if possible during the Panel's next scheduled meeting on 22nd July.

Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP)

The  Panel  agreed  that  the  embargoed  presentation  provided  to  all States Members immediately before the Panel meeting was too general in nature to allow any conclusions to be drawn. It was agreed that members would await more detail when the full MTFP package was lodged.

Transfer of functions

Members  briefly  discussed  the  trend  for  significant  ministerial responsibilities to be moved either from one department to another, or outside the public sector, as in the case of Visit Jersey. It appeared that some  portfolios  were  being  reorganised  according  to  the  personal interests and abilities of individual ministers, rather than established departmental  roles  and  competencies.  The  Economic  Development Department in particular appeared to be gradually giving up much of its responsibility for economic activities other than those related to tourism, a large proportion of its previous work being re-directed towards the Chief Minister's Department. The Panel noted that these changes might need to be discussed by the Chairmen's Committee to ensure that effective Scrutiny could continue, in view of the potential impact of departmental reorganisation on the remit of individual Panels.

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5. Treatment of Confidential Documentation by Scrutiny Panels

510/1(72)

The  Panel  considered  a  message  circulated  by  the  Chairmen's Committee  following  its  meeting  on  7th  July  2015.  Members unanimously agreed to the suggested commitment that:

• All documents received in confidence will be respected by all Panel Members

• If any Panel Member wants to challenge the confidential nature of any documents received, that Member will raise any issues, in the first instance, at the next Panel meeting for further discussion

• Should any challenges occur in the future, open dialogue will take place with the Minister

It  was  further  agreed  that  from  now  on  the  Panel  would  request clarification  as  to  the  status  of  any  document  received  under confidential cover in terms of its classification under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 (as amended).

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6. Forthcoming meetings

 Next  scheduled  Panel  meeting:  9.30am  on  22nd  July  2015, Blampied Room, States Building

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