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Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel
Record of Meeting
Date: 8th January 2018
Present | Deputy J. M. Maçon, Vice-Chairman Deputy T. A. Vallois Deputy S. Y. Mézec |
Apologies | Deputy L. M. C. Doublet , Chairman |
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 records of its meetings on 4th and 7th December 2017. It was agreed that the Chairman would sign them at the next meeting. |
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Item 2 04/12/17 | 2. Conflict of Interest No conflicts were declared by Panel Members. |
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Item 6 04/12/17 516/50 | 3. Briefing – Draft Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 201- The Panel noted that a briefing scheduled for 2:00pm had been moved to 9:00am on Thursday 11th January. |
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Item 4 04/12/17 516/45 | 4. Nursery Education Fund The Panel noted that a letter had been sent to the Minister for Education requesting a briefing on the proposals he intended to bring forward as a result of Dr C. Hamer's recommendations for Early Years education in Jersey. Further information would be circulated to the Panel once a response had been received. | AH |
Item 1 07/12/17 516/49 | 5. Tertiary Education: Student Finance Option The Panel received an update from the Officer in respect of the progress made in the review. It was noted that the Panel's advisor, Mr B. Bekradnia, was close to completing his report on the proposals, subject to outstanding requests from the Education and Treasury Departments. The Panel noted that the advisor was due to attend the Panel meeting on 22nd January in order to present this report. The Officer advised that travel arrangements were due to be made shortly. The Panel recalled the briefing it had received from Officers of the Treasury and Resources Department and Education Department, and noted that a public hearing with the Minister for Treasury and Resources was due to take place on Friday 12th January at 10:00am. The Panel received and agreed a draft question plan for the hearing. It was noted that the survey on the proposals being carried out by the Education Department was due to close on Friday 12th January, | AH AH |
| subsequent to which the Panel would be briefed on Monday 22nd January. It was explained that close to 4,000 responses had been received to date by members of the public. A consolidated version of these responses was due to be made available to the Panel. The Panel also noted that the closing date for submissions to its review was Friday 12th January, although the deadline had been extended to allow for further time in two instances. The Panel agreed that the timeline for its review would allow for a report to be produced by the end of February 2018. The Panel noted a letter from the Comptroller and Auditor General in response to a request to conduct a review of the post graduate funding system in the Island. It was noted that a meeting was due to take place on Monday 15th January at 11:00am to discuss this matter further. | AH AH AH |
Item 7 04/12/17 516/51 | 6. Draft Criminal Procedure (Jersey) Law 201- The Panel noted that a Sub-Panel had been formed in order to undertake a review of the draft law. The Sub-Panel comprised of Deputy S.Y. Mézec as Chairman, Deputy T.A. Vallois as Vice-Chairman and Deputy R.J. Renouf . Letters had been sent to key stakeholders requesting views and comments on the draft law. The Sub-Panel had received a briefing on the draft law on 21st December 2017, where it had identified key changes to current practices within the court system. An email was due to be sent to all States Members outlining these changes, after which a comments paper would be issued providing further details prior to the debate on 16th January 2018. It was noted that the Sub-Panel had agreed to let the debate on the principles take place, and call it in for further scrutiny under standing order 72, should the principles be adopted by the Assembly. The Sub-Panel was due to meet on Thursday 18th January in order to discuss further actions after the debate. | AH AH |
Item 8 04/12/17 515/28 | 7. Digital Skills The Panel noted an update that had been provided by the Education Department in respect of questions raised from the report S.R.9/2014 Digital Skills. The Panel agreed that the answers were satisfactory and that it was not necessary for further work to be undertaken at this time, however it was agreed that the subject should be added to the Panel's legacy report for the next Panel. The Panel noted the Skills Strategy 2017-2022. The Panel requested that a background document used to inform the strategy, Skills Strategy Evidence Base Report (Marchmont Observatory (2017)), be requested from the Education Department. The Panel agreed that this was to be discussed further at its next meeting. | AH AH |
Item 9 04/12/17 511/2/3 | 8. Care of Children in Jersey Review Panel The Panel received an update from Deputy S.Y. Mézec on the work being undertaken by the Care of Children in Jersey Review Panel. It was noted that Deputy J.A. Hilton had recently resigned from the Panel. |
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| The Review Panel was due to meet on Wednesday 10th January, and subsequent meetings were arranged for Thursday 11th January with representatives of the States of Jersey Police and the new Chief Executive Officer of the States of Jersey. An introductory meeting was also to be held with the recently appointed Children's Commissioner. The Panel noted that the proposition P.108/2017 Independent Jersey Care Inquiry Report: implementation of recommendations, had been changed to a report to allow for an in-committee debate on the proposals. It was expected that this would take place on Tuesday 30th January. |
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Item 10 04/12/17 548/4(32) | 9. Independent Review of Education The Panel noted a letter from the Minister for Education in response to its questions surrounding the 2011 consultation, Learning for tomorrow's world. The Panel agreed that this would be discussed further at its next meeting. | AH |
| 10. Bullying in Education The Panel noted that a letter had been sent to the Minister for Education relaying the Panel's dissatisfaction at the manner in which he had chosen to address concerns raised during recent quarterly hearings. The Panel had requested that the Minister for Education inform all teachers about the policies in relation to bullying directly via email, however this had been sent to head teachers to send out to their staff instead. The Panel noted that an independent review of bullying and harassment was ongoing, and a States-wide consultation had been extended to teachers after they had not been initially included. This was due to close on Monday 8th January. The Panel agreed that it would not act further in respect of the issue with the Minister, but agreed that it would submit the evidence it had received on this matter to the independent review. | AH |
Item 11 04/12/17 | 11. Immigration (Jersey) (Amendment) Order 2017 The Panel noted that a briefing was due to be organised and would be followed up with the Community and Constitutional Affairs Department. | AH |
Item 13 04/12/17 | 12. Quarterly Hearing dates 2018 The Panel noted that final dates for quarterly hearings in 2018 were due to be circulated shortly. | AH |
| 13. Panel Legacy Report The Panel noted the previous Panel's legacy report and its format. It was agreed that the Panel would present its report in a similar manner. It was noted that the Panel would provide the Officer with areas for inclusion at subsequent meetings. | AH |
| 14. Amendment to the Jersey Immigration Rules The Panel received a document detailing the changes that had recently been made by Ministerial Order to the Jersey Immigration Rules. It was noted that non-EU nationals who were the spouse or civil partner of a person present or settled in Jersey would now have to undertake English exams in speaking and listening prior to entry. |
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| The Panel agreed to request figures from the Community and Constitutional Affairs Department as to approximately how many people this would affect, and also to request the financial and manpower implications of the changes. | AH |
| 15. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next meeting was due to take place at 1:30pm on Monday 22nd January 2018 in the Blampied Room, States Building. |
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