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Review Panel – Care of Children in Jersey
Record of Meeting
Date: 20th December 2017
Present | Deputy S.Y. Mézec , Chairman Deputy T.A. Vallois, Vice-Chairman Senator S.C. Ferguson Deputy J.A. Hilton Deputy M.R. Higgins |
Apologies |
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Absent |
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In attendance | Mr A. Harris , Scrutiny Officer |
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
| 1. Records of Meetings The Review Panel noted and approved the records of the meetings held on 29th November and 8th December 2017. The Chairman signed them accordingly. The Panel noted the minutes of 6th December 2017 and requested that minor changes be made to item two Conflict of Interest'. The Officer advised that these changes would be made and updated minutes would be attached to the next agenda. | AH |
Item 2 06/12/17 | 2. Conflict of Interest No conflicts were declared by Review Panel members. |
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Item 3 06/12/17 511/2/3/1 | 3. Recommendation One: A Commissioner for Children The Review Panel noted that Mrs D. MacMillan had been appointed to the role of Children's Commissioner following the recent interviews. The Review Panel discussed arranging a meeting with the Commissioner in order to discuss her plans for the role. It was agreed that the Review Panel would wait until the Commissioner had established herself in the role, after which it would arrange a meeting accordingly. | AH |
Item 4 06/12/17 511/2/3/2 | 4. Recommendation 2: Giving Children and Young People a Voice The Review Panel reviewed written submissions from local organisations outlining their views on P.108/2017, Independent Jersey Care Inquiry Report: implementation of recommendations' (P.108/2017) and noted concerns had been raised about the role of the proposed Children's Rights Officer (CRO). The Review Panel agreed that it would write a letter to the Chief Minister requesting an update on the progress in appointing a CRO, how the role would sit with the Children's Commissioner, the legal framework for the role and why it was not being established as an independent post. The Review Panel agreed that it would request a meeting with the young people who had been involved in the interview process for appointing the Children's Commissioner, to gather their views on how children and | AH AH |
| young people's voices could be captured. It was noted that this would be arranged through the Jersey Youth Service. The Review Panel noted that at a recent Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel hearing with the Minister for Education, information had been discussed surrounding the Voice and Participation Project (VAPP) that had been established by the Educational Psychologists. The Panel requested that excerpts of the transcript be circulated. Following on from this discussion, the Review Panel requested that information on the number of home schooled children on the Island be requested from the Education Department. | AH AH |
Item 6 06/12/17 511/2/3/4 | 5. Recommendation Four: Building a Sustainable Workforce The Review Panel noted that a meeting with the incoming Chief Executive of the States of Jersey had been arranged for Thursday 11th January. It was noted that a large number of actions within P.108/2017 in relation to this recommendation were planned to be completed by January 2018. The Panel requested that answers given by the Chief Minister at the previous hearing regarding the future use of Property Holdings' stock be circulated from the transcript. The Panel noted a submission from the Jersey Family Therapy Association (JFTA), which explained that it had run a training course for systemic practice for the past 20 years. The NSPCC had also noted in their submission that there was currently no on-island training for Social Workers. The Review Panel questioned whether the course being supplied by JFTA was similar to the one proposed in P.108/2017 and whether Community and Social Services felt it was enough for the Island. It was agreed that a letter would be drafted to Community and Social Services to ascertain this information. Within the headline actions for recommendation four in P.108/2017, a local training course for the Jersey Practice Model was due to be established. The Panel noted the deadline for implementation was January 2018 and therefore agreed to question if this had been achieved within the letter. Deputy M.R. Higgins noted that he had asked questions of the Minister for Health and Social Services in the States Assembly about workforce concerns. It was agreed that these would be circulated to the Review Panel. | AH AH AH |
Item 7 06/12/17 511/2/3/5 | 6. Recommendation Five: Legislation The Review Panel received an information pack that had been provided by the Probation and After-Care Service, detailing the processes in place for supporting young people within the Criminal Justice System. |
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Item 12 06/12/17 511/2/3 | 7. Responses to Panel Letters The Review Panel reviewed the submissions that it had received from organisations in relation to P.108/2017 and agreed to arranged further meetings with the following organisations: Help a Jersey Child | AH |
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It was agreed that an invitation would be extended to the other Independent Visitors for Young People through Mr P.M. Pinel. The Panel noted that the last paragraph of the Help a Jersey Child submission highlighted concern regarding a lack of focus on parents' rights and family policies. It was agreed that the Review Panel would question the Chief Minister on the concern. | AH AH |
Item 1 08/12/17 511/2/3 | 8. Public Hearing with the Chief Minister The Review Panel recalled the public hearing with the Chief Minister on Friday 8th December 2017. It was agreed the Review Panel would follow up questions in relation to the appointment of the Children's Commissioner in writing now that the appointment had been made. The Review Panel noted a request from the Chairman of the Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, Deputy L.M.C. Doublet , that future hearings be filmed and the footage be uploaded to the Scrutiny website. The Review Panel noted that webcasting was due to be introduced for Scrutiny hearings and this would be available almost immediately on the website, and able to be streamed directly from the website. The Review Panel agreed that the time it would take to film a hearing, edit the footage and the upload it would take at least three to four weeks, by which time the interest for the hearing would not be as high. The Review Panel therefore agreed that it would not film its hearings, but would wait for the introduction of webcasting. | AH |
Item 14 06/12/17 511/2/3 | 9. Panel Reporting The Panel noted that the Chief Minister had yet to confirm his intention to bring forward P.108/2017 as a report to enable the States Assembly to hold an in-committee debate. The Review Panel agreed it would write a letter to the Chief Minister asking him to hold the in-committee debate on Tuesday 30th January, in order to allow it sufficient time to prepare comments. The Panel discussed its legacy report and agreed that further research should be undertaken as to what format this should take. | AH AH |
511/2/3 | 10. Future Meetings The Review Panel noted that its next meeting was due to take place at 9:30am on Wednesday 10th January 2018 in the Le Capelain Room, States Building. |
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