Skip to main content

Economic Affairs - Approved Panel Minutes - 27 January 2016

This content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost. Let us know if you find any major problems.

Text in this format is not official and should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments. Please see the PDF for the official version of the document.

Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel

Record of Meeting

27th January 2016

 

Present

Deputy S.M. Brée, Chairman Deputy D. Johnson , Vice-Chairman Connétable J.E. Le Maistre Connétable M.J. Paddock

Apologies

 

Absent

 

In attendance

Mr. M. Orbell, Scrutiny Officer

 

Ref Back

Agenda matter

Action

 

1.  Records of meetings

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13th January 2016 were approved and signed.

MO

Item 2 13.01.16

515/34

2.  Northern Ferry Route

The Panel welcomed the Minister, Chief Officer and Assistant Director for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture (ED, TS&C), the Group  Chief  Executive  Officer,  Ports  of  Jersey  Limited  and  the Harbourmaster for the purpose of a private briefing on benchmarking and comprehensive service reviews being carried out on the ferry service.

 

Item 3 13.01.16

515/1/1(1)

3.  Work programme

  1. Licensing Law

The Licensing Law White Paper had been drafted but was awaiting final approval from Ministers before it could be shared with Scrutiny and published for consultation. The Panel was advised that there had been significant changes from earlier versions received from the department. It was agreed that there would be no benefit in preparing scoping or terms of reference for a review until the Panel received the latest draft.

  1. Rural Economy Strategy (RES)

Contact with the department since the last Panel meeting had confirmed that the RES was well advanced but had not yet received ministerial approval. There were understood to be some concerns regarding the budget which might not be resolved until the draft MTFP Addition was finalised, so there was a possibility that significant changes or rewriting might be required. The most appropriate time for a review could still be some months away.

  1. Locate Jersey

Background information on the activities of Locate Jersey had been requested from the department.

MO

 

 

4.  Matters arising from Chairmen's Committee

  1. Panel remits and names

The Panel was advised of the outcomes of discussion at the Chairmen's Committee meeting of 26th January 2016 concerning Scrutiny Panel areas  of  responsibility  following  the  Transfer  of  Functions.  Digital, Innovation, and Competition, which had now transferred to the Chief Minister's Department would continue to be the responsibility of the Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel along with Financial Services, which moved  to  Chief  Minister's  in  2014.  These  arrangements  would  be confirmed by amendments to Standing Orders in due course.

The  Panel  also  discussed  the  transfer  of  Sport  and  Culture  from Education  to  Economic  Development.  Members  agreed  that  as  the department  intended  to  focus  on  the  wider  economic  benefits  and opportunities presented by these activities it was appropriate for the Panel to accept responsibility for their scrutiny. It was felt that there was no need for the Panel to change its name to reflect this.

  1. Training opportunities for Scrutiny members

Members  expressed  an  interest  in  further  training  in  questioning techniques. It was suggested that while previous questioning training had been productive, it would be helpful if future sessions could be designed with Scrutiny public hearings more in mind, rather than using examples from courtroom questioning.

 

 

5.  Forthcoming meetings

Next  scheduled  Panel  meeting:  9.30am  on  10th  February  2016, Blampied Room, States Building

MO