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Review Panel – Care of Children in Jersey
Record of Meeting
Date: 8th November 2017
Present | Deputy S.Y. Mézec , Chairman [Items 1 – 8] Deputy T.A. Vallois, Vice-Chairman Senator S.C Ferguson Deputy J.A. Hilton |
Apologies |
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Absent |
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In attendance | Mr A. Harris , Scrutiny Officer Mr T. Leveridge, Scrutiny Officer |
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
511/2/3 (9) | 1. Records of Meetings The Review Panel noted and approved the minutes of its meeting on Wednesday 18th October 2017. The Chairman signed them accordingly. |
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| 2. Conflict of Interest No conflicts were declared by Review Panel Members. |
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Item 6 18/10/17 | 3. Public Hearing with the Chief Minister The Panel received an update from the Officer detailing the actions agreed at the last Panel meeting in response to the public hearing with the Chief Minister on the 9th October 2017. The Panel recalled that it had agreed to send letters to the Bailiff , Attorney General, Honorary Police Association, Comité des Chefs de Police, States of Jersey Police and the Probation Department requesting an update on any procedures in place to support children and young people within the various services. The Panel approved draft letters and agreed that they would be sent, subject to minor amendments. Further to this discussion, the Panel agreed that it would also send the same letter to the Governor of HMP La Moye and the director of Greenfields. The Panel agreed that an invitation would be extended to the Bailiff to meet with the Panel and discuss this further. The Panel agreed that it would look to organise public hearings with the Chief Minister in December, February and April, in order to receive updates on the implementation of the recommendations. | AH AH AH |
Item 8 18/10/17 | 4. Recommendation 1 - A Commissioner for Children The Panel noted a draft letter to the Chief Minister requesting an update on the role of the Children's Commissioner and how the proposed legislation underpinning the role would be brought forward. The Panel discussed adding a further question to the letter asking the Chief Minister to confirm if all Chief Officers had read and disseminated the report to their respective department. It was agreed that this would be sent in | AH |
| another letter so as to keep the issues separate. The Panel agreed that the letter would be sent, subject to minor amendments. |
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Item 9 18/10/17 | 5. Recommendation 2 - Giving Children and Young People a Voice The Panel noted that an update on actions discussed at its last meeting would be provided at its next meeting. The Panel noted that the job description of the Children's Rights Officer had been requested and would be circulated once it had been received. The Panel agreed to arrange a briefing with the Jersey Youth Service in order to clarify the role it held in regards to recommendation two of the IJCI. The Panel also requested that an update be obtained as to the current complaints processes in place for children and young people within the care system. | AH AH |
Item 10 18/10/17 | 6. Recommendation 3 – Inspection of Services The Panel noted its actions from the previous meeting and agreed that it would arrange a meeting with the Care Commissioner in order to discuss the arrangements for the independent inspection of Children's Services. After further discussion, the Panel agreed that it would send a letter to the Chief Minister requesting details of how the Care Commissioner and incoming Children's Commissioner would work together. The Panel discussed the timeline in the response in relation to the inspection of the children's service. The Panel noted that this was scheduled for June 2018 and agreed to question the Care Commissioner and Chief Minister as to why an Ofsted inspection had not been considered. The Panel noted that once it had received answers it would consider whether or not to bring a proposition asking the States to approve an independent Ofsted inspection. | AH AH AH |
Item 11 18/10/17 | 7. Recommendation 4 – Building a Sustainable Workforce The Panel noted a response from the Deputy Chief Minister to its letter, requesting that an independent review of the States of Jersey Human Resources Department be considered as part of the response to the IJCI. The Panel noted that an independent review of bullying and harassment was due to be undertaken as part of the IJCI response, however it was agreed that this issue was separate to the one raised in the Panel's letter. It was therefore agreed that a response would be drafted to the Deputy Chief Minister highlighting the Panel's concerns. The Panel requested that a meeting be organised with the incoming Chief Executive Officer of the States of Jersey as a matter of urgency. It was agreed that this would allow further clarification of any work being undertaken under this recommendation. | AH AH |
| 8. Recommendation 5 – Legislation The Panel discussed the Council of Ministers' response to recommendation five of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry. |
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| The Panel requested that further details be acquired as to the scope of the proposed independent review of youth justice in the report. It was agreed that this would be included in the letter that was to be sent to the Probation Department. The Panel discussed the headline actions contained within the response to the IJCI and agreed the following actions:
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| 9. Recommendation 6 – Corporate Parent The Panel discussed the Council of Ministers' response to recommendation six of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry. The Panel noted that the second headline action for this recommendation was for the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC) to bring forward proposals as to the responsibilities of States Members as corporate parents. It was noted that the Chairman was a member of PPC and would therefore need to consider his approach to the matter on related Review Panel work. The Panel agreed that it would write to the Chairman of PPC to request an update on any work it was undertaking in respect of the IJCI, with specific reference to recommendation six. | SM AH |
| 10. Recommendation 7 – The Jersey Way The Panel discussed the Council of Ministers' response to recommendation seven of the IJCI. The Panel agreed to confirm when the response to the Law Commissions report on administrative redress was due to be published. It also agreed further questions that would be put to the Chief Minister on this recommendation. | AH |
| 11. Recommendation 8 – Legacy Issues The Panel discussed the Council of Ministers' response to recommendation eight of the IJCI. The Panel noted that within the IJCI report, a recommendation was made to archive the report independently off island, which was not put forward within the response. The Panel agreed to question why this recommendation was not taken forward. It was noted that support helplines had been established after the IJCI report was published. The Panel requested that the figures of how many people had accessed this service be made available, alongside details of the budget that had been allocated. | AH AH |
| 12. Future Meetings |
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| The Panel noted that its next meeting was due to take place at 9:30am on Wednesday 22nd November 2017 in the Le Capelain Room, States Building. |
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