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Review Panel – Care of Children in Jersey
Record of Meeting
Date: 6th December 2017
Present | Deputy T.A. Vallois, Vice-Chairman Senator S.C. Ferguson Deputy M.R. Higgins |
Apologies | Deputy S.Y. Mézec , Chairman Deputy J.A. Hilton |
Absent |
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In attendance | Mr A. Harris , Scrutiny Officer |
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
| 1. Records of Meetings The Panel noted and approved the minutes of its meetings held on 21st and 22nd January 2017. In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice- Chairman signed them accordingly. |
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Item 2 22/11/17 511/2/3 | 2. Conflict of Interest Deputy M.R. Higgins noted his involvement in an ongoing issue with Community and Social Services. In this instance the Panel agreed that Deputy M.R. Higgins would not undertake any questioning of Community and Social Services until the matter had been resolved. |
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Item 4 22/11/17 511/2/3/1 | 3. Recommendation One – A Commissioner for Children The Panel noted that a response from the Chief Minister had been received to its letter requesting further details of the role of the Children's Commissioner. The Panel agreed that further questions would be asked at its hearing with the Chief Minister on Friday 8th December. | AH |
Item 5 22/11/17 511/2/3/2 | 4. Recommendation Two – Giving Children and Young People a Voice The Panel noted that letters had been sent to various organisations that worked with children and young people, requesting views on P.108/2017, Independent Jersey Care Inquiry Report: implementation of recommendations'. It was noted that the deadline for submissions was Friday 8th December 2017. The Officer advised that submissions would be consolidated and circulated to the Panel after the deadline. The Review Panel noted that the Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel had recently questioned the Minister for Education on the Voice and Participation Project (VAPP) that had been carried out by the Education Psychology Team. It was requested that any extracts from the hearing transcript be circulated for the Review Panel's information. The Review Panel requested that the Officer ascertain why the Scrutiny Office no longer arranged visits for Members into local schools to discuss the role of Scrutiny. | AH AH AH |
Item 6 22/11/17 511/2/3/3 | 5. Recommendation Three – Inspection of Services The Panel agreed that it would ask further questions to the Chief Minister about the timetable for inspection at the hearing on Friday 8th December. | AH |
Item 7 22/11/17 511/2/3/4 | 6. Recommendation Four – Building a Sustainable Workforce The Panel noted a response from the Chairman of the State's Employment Board in response to its concerns about the headline actions for recommendation four. The Panel agreed that its concerns had not been addressed sufficiently by the response. The Panel noted that further questions were due to be asked at its hearing on Friday 8th December. The Panel agreed that, dependent on the answers received, it would organise a meeting with the interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Officer of Human Resources in order to discuss its concerns further. It was noted that a meeting with the incoming Chief Executive Officer of the States of Jersey was due to be arranged once he had taken up his post full-time in January 2018. | AH AH |
Item 8 22/11/17 511/2/3/5 | 7. Recommendation Five – Legislation The Panel noted that information had been circulated from the Probation and After-Care Service, in respect of the independent review of youth justice that was due to take place as part of the headline actions for recommendation five. The Officer advised that a precis of the information would be made available to Review Panel Members. The Review Panel agreed to add further questions to the hearing with the Chief Minister on Friday 8th December, specifically asking about the role of the Safeguarding Partnership Board. | AH AH |
Item 9 22/11/17 511/2/3/6 | 8. Recommendation Six – Corporate Parent The Panel noted a response from the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC) that provided an update on the work it was undertaken in respect of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry. The Review Panel agreed that it would submit an oral question, asking the Attorney General to confirm the legal definition of corporate parent in respect of States Members. Deputy T.A. Vallois agreed to submit this on the Review Panel's behalf. | AH |
Item 10 22/11/17 511/2/3/7 | 9. Recommendation Seven – The Jersey Way The Review Panel agreed to add further questions to the question plan for its hearing with the Chief Minister on Friday 8th December. | AH |
Item 11 22/11/17 511/2/3/8 | 10. Recommendation Eight – Legacy Issues The Review Panel recalled that information had been requested from the Health and Social Services Department about the number of people who had accessed the helplines set up in the wake of the IJCI report's publication. It was agreed that this would circulated as soon as possible. | AH |
Item 1 29/11/17 511/2/3 | 11. Meeting with Chief Minister The Panel recalled that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman had met with the Chief Minister to discuss concerns about the wording of P.108/2017, namely that the proposition asked States Members to endorse operational actions. It was noted that as a result of this meeting, the Chief Minister had spoken with the States Greffe to move the debate date until January 2018. The Review Panel requested that the Officer confirm with the Greffier of the States whether or not this was still to be debated as a proposition, or whether it would be brought forward to discuss as a report in an in- committee debate. | AH |
511/2/3 | 12. Response to Panel Letters The Review Panel noted that it had received responses from the Attorney General, the Bailiff and the States of Jersey Police detailing the support offered to young people going through their respective services. The Review Panel noted that the Bailiff was due to send a formal response, further to which he would attend a meeting with the Panel. The Panel agreed that it would request that this meeting be transcribed for the benefit of retaining information. The Review Panel noted that the States of Jersey Police had offered to meet with the Panel to discuss its work further and it was agreed that this would be organised as soon as possible. | AH AH |
511/2/3 | 13. Public Hearings The Panel noted that it was due to hold a public hearing with the Chief Minister on Friday 8th December. It was also noted that further hearing dates had been scheduled for Thursday 8th February and Thursday 29th March 2018. |
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511/2/3 | 14. Panel Reporting The Panel discussed the manner in which it would report on its work to date. It was agreed that, subject to confirmation of it being lodged as a report or a proposition, the Panel would lodge comments on P.108/2017. It was also agreed that the Panel would look to publish an interim report, detailing the work it had undertaken and the challenges that had been made to date. It was agreed that this would be discussed further at the Panel's next meeting. | AH |
511/2/3 | 15. Future Meetings The Review Panel noted that its next scheduled meeting was due to take place at 9:30am on Wednesday 20th December in the Le Capelain Room, States Building. |
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