Amendment (No. 28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

A formal published “Ministerial Decision” is required as a record of the decision of a Minister (or an Assistant Minister where they have delegated authority) as they exercise their responsibilities and powers.

Ministers are elected by the States Assembly and have legal responsibilities and powers as “corporation sole” under the States of Jersey Law 2005 by virtue of their office and in their areas of responsibility, including entering into agreements, and under any legislation conferring on them powers.

An accurate record of “Ministerial Decisions” is vital to effective governance, including:

demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
providing a record of decisions and actions that will be available for examination by States Members, and Panels and Committees of the States Assembly; the public, organisations, and the media; and as a historical record and point of reference for the conduct of public affairs

Ministers are individually accountable to the States Assembly, including for the actions of the departments and agencies which discharge their responsibilities.

The Freedom of Information Law (Jersey) Law 2011 is used as a guide when determining what information is be published. While there is a presumption toward publication to support of transparency and accountability, detailed information may not be published if, for example, it would constitute a breach of data protection, or disclosure would prejudice commercial interest.

A decision made 23 February 2015:

Ministerial decision reference : MD-C-2015-0021
Decision summary title Amendment (No.28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey
Decision summary author	External Relations	Is the decision summary public or exempt?		Public
Report title Amendment (No.28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey
Report author or name of person giving report	External Relations	Is the report public or exempt?		Public
Decision and reason for the decision: The Chief Minister decided to lodge ‘au Greffe’ Amendment (No.28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey and the accompanying Report. This Amendment would allow any Minister to propose any proposition that had been lodged by the Chief Minister. Currently, the only propositions lodged by the Chief Minister that might be proposed by another Minister were propositions lodged under Article 31 of the States of Jersey Law 2005 (proposal that an Act of Parliament should apply, or an Order in Council be extended to Jersey). The proposed Amendment has the agreement of the Privileges and Procedures Committee. The change should ensure that the Minister with the most direct knowledge of the proposition in question would act as ‘rapporteur’ and this should facilitate debates in the Assembly.
Resource implications: There are no financial or manpower implications arising from this amendment to Standing Orders.
Action required: External Relations shall:- Inform the States Greffe of the decision; Forward the draft amendment to Standing Orders and Report to the Publications Editor and request the Greffier of the States to arrange for the draft amendment to Standing Orders to be lodged “au Greffe” for debate at the earliest opportunity.
Signature			Position Senator Andrew Green Deputy Chief Minister

Date signed			Effective date of the decision

Amendment (No. 28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey

Jersey Crest

Amendment (No. 28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey

Report

This minor amendment to Standing Orders is being brought for debate by the Chief Minister with the agreement of PPC to facilitate debates on propositions lodged by the Chief Minister. If adopted, this amendment will allow any Minister to act as ‘rapporteur’ in the Assembly for any proposition lodged by the Chief Minister.

The change will be particularly relevant for propositions that arise as a result of matters considered by the Legislation Advisory Panel (LAP) which is not entitled to lodge propositions in its own name as it is only an advisory body and not a panel established under Standing Orders. At present draft legislation and other propositions considered by the LAP are lodged in the name of the Chief Minister even if he has had no direct involvement in the initial consideration of the matter. This amendment will allow the Chief Minister to ask another Minister, for example the Minister for External Relations who chairs the LAP, to propose propositions on his behalf.

Standing Order 68A(2) as currently drafted was introduced into Standing Orders through an amendment in 2011. The provision as currently drafted only allows the Chief Minister to ask any other Minister to act as ‘rapporteur’ for him in relation to a proposition brought under Article 31 of the States of Jersey Law 2005.

Article 31 of the Law requires the Chief Minister to bring a proposition to the States whenever it is proposed that an Act of the UK Parliament should apply to Jersey or that an Order in Council should be made extending an Act of Parliament or Church Measure to Jersey. The 2005 Law requires the Chief Minister to lodge any such propositions because of his responsibility for international relations. In practice it is nevertheless the case that many of the matters covered by a proposition brought under Article 31 fall within the remit of another Minister, for example immigration and asylum matters that are normally the responsibility of the Minister for Home Affairs.

This fact was recognised in 2011 when Standing Order 68A(2) was introduced to allow any proposition lodged by the Chief Minister under Article 31 of the Law to be proposed by any other Minister. The present amendment will simply extend the same principle to all propositions lodged by the Chief Minister whether they are under Article 31 of the 2005 Law or not. The change should ensure that the Minister with the most direct knowledge of the proposition in question will act as ‘rapporteur’ and this should facilitate debates in the Assembly.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no financial or manpower implications arising from this amendment to Standing Orders.

Explanatory Note

This amendment would allow any Minister to propose any proposition that has been lodged by the Chief Minister. Currently, the only propositions lodged by the Chief Minister that may be proposed by another Minister are propositions lodged under Article 31 of the States of Jersey Law 2005 (proposal that an Act of Parliament should apply, or an Order in Council be extended to, Jersey).

◊	Draft – 27 January 2015	Page - 1

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Amendment (No. 28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey

Made [date to be inserted]

Coming into force [date to be inserted]

THE STATES, in pursuance of Article 48 of the States of Jersey Law 2005, have made the following Amendment to the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey –

1 Standing order 68A amended

In standing order 68A(2) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey, the words “under Article 31 of the Law” shall be deleted.

2 Citation and commencement

This Amendment may be cited as Amendment (No. 28) of the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey and shall come into force on the day it is made.