Scrutiny panels: rule of three?

Thursday 09 November 2023

A backbencher is pushing for a minimum of three members on the political panels responsible for holding the Government to account to "ensure effective scrutiny and not to overburden ministers".

Deputy Max Andrews has also proposed that a panel Chair who is unable to recruit sufficient members should have to face re-election.

The independent politician – who was recently censured for breaking the code of conduct which sets out how States Members should behave – has requested that sufficient members must be recruited to a panel at the next States sitting after the number falls below three.

If the Assembly approves Deputy Andrews's proposition in a debate schedule for 28 November, then a new Scrutiny panel Chair must also be elected following the dissolution of their panel.

Deputy Andrews has requested that the Privileges and Procedures Committee should make these amendments to the Standing Orders by the end of 2024.

This comes after himself and Deputy Raluca Kovacs resigned from the Economic and International Affairs Panel – chaired by Deputy Moz Scott – in March, followed by Constable Marcus Troy in July, throwing it into disarray with less than three members.

Pictured: the political spat between newly-elected Deputy Andrews and Deputy Moz Scott was laid bare in a series of reports published in August.

Only Deputy Scott and Constable Richard Honeycombe currently remain on the panel.

In Deputy Andrews's report accompanying the proposition, he wrote: "There remains no process in Standing Orders to define the number of Members needed to constitute a Panel."

He continued: "I am proposing to amend Standing Orders to address the potential for a situation where a Member, or Members, other than the Panel Chair, stand down, leaving fewer than three Members on a Scrutiny Panel or Sub-Panel. The Chair will be given until the next States meeting to recruit sufficient Members to the Panel – if this is not possible then the Scrutiny Panel or Sub-Panel will automatically dissolve."

In that situation, Deputy Andrews has proposed that a new chair should then be elected.

Deputy Andrews nonetheless said that consideration should be given for members of a Scrutiny panel who cannot attend sessions for medical reasons.
He wrote: "In such a case where a Scrutiny Panel has three Members, but one member is absent on long-term sick leave, the Scrutiny Panel or Sub-Panel should not be re-constituted because the Panel still retains three Members to constitute a Panel."

"As the work of Scrutiny can be very demanding, covering Government legislation, subordinate legislation, Government policies and areas of overwhelming public interest. I believe there should be a minimum membership requirement for all Scrutiny Panels and Sub-Panels in order to provide effective scrutiny and not to overburden Members."

What is a Scrutiny panel and what does it do?

Scrutiny panels, which are made up of backbench politicians, are responsible for holding ministers and their officers to account.

These six panels review how government is run and proposals for new policy and legislation, and make recommendations for improvement.

They are able to gather both physical evidence from ministers and government officials and hold hearings where they can question them on their work.