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Submission - Draft Statistics and Census (Jersey) Amendment Law 202 - MSED re Clarification on CAG Comment - 20 June 2024

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19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3RR

By email

20th June 2024

Dear Chair

Draft Statistics and Census (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- P.29/2024: Point of Clarification on the Comptroller and Auditor General Board of Governance

I am writing further to my letter of 7 June regarding P.29/2024 to clarify a point in the Annex to the letter which referenced the Governance Board for the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG).

The Government recognises the importance of the Governance Board of the C&AG and the valuable role that it plays in upholding public trust and confidence in the effective governance of the Jersey Audit Office.

The purpose of the comparison in the letter was to state that, for the Chief Statistician, having an independent governance board – for which the Governance Board for the C&AG provides an effective example under Jersey Law – would not be necessary because the Office of the Chief Statistician will continue to be covered within the Accountable Officer structure under the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019. There are no policy reasons why the Chief Statistician's financial governance cannot be run within government, and so it would be an unnecessary expense to establish a separate governance board.

In contrast, there are clear policy reasons why the governance of the Jersey Audit Office must be fully independent of government. Given the C&AG's role as the public audit office, the office requires a Governance Board that is independent of government to assure the public that the office is being run effectively.

It is regrettable that these points were not made with sufficient clarity or detail in my letter of 7 June.

Yours sincerely

Deputy Kirsten Morel

Minister for Sustainable Economic Development

Cc. Deputy Inna Gardiner , Chair of the Public Accounts Committee

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