Draft Business Plan - Fourth Amendment

The States draft business plan has had a vast number of amendments to it. The information on the States website shows the voting, but you have to drill down and read through the proposition to see who proposed it and what it was all about. In this occasional series, I hope to bring a summary of the changes sought, who brought the proposition, and how the vote went in
terms of numbers.

Vote P117/2009/Amd. (4)
Draft Annual Business Plan 2010 (P.117/2009): fourth amendment (paragraph 2)as amended  22 September 2009

Proposition: Draft Annual Business Plan 2010 (P.117/2009): fourth amendment
Lodged au Greffe on 7th September 2009 by Senator S.C. Ferguson

There were two key parts to Sarah Ferguson's proposition.

To reward staff for their initiative - monetary rewards for suggestions that save money, which she argued could be paid out of part of the money saved - and the scheme would therefore save money and be self-financing.

Departmental suggestion schemes introduced in all Departments during 2010 at the initiative of the Chief Minister's Department with monetary awards for staff putting forward valid suggestions which genuinely improve efficiency, productivity or value for money.

The second was to do with grants to charities and other corporate bodies; it aimed to show how the States is funding these organisations, and by how much. It is bringing better accountability to the States and the public eye.

Transparency and Accountability in relation to grants

Success criteria:
(i) All organisations receiving grants from the States submit their accounts to be published as a report to the States; subject to a de minimis limit, namely that accounts are only be published for organisations receiving a grant of £5,000 or more or where the grant represents more than 50% of the total income of the organisation.
(ii) A full list of all grants, including amounts, made by each Department is included as an Appendix to the Annual Accounts of the States and listed by Department with no de minimis level for this listing."

Voting:

POUR: 44    CONTRE: 1    ILL: 1    EN DEFAUT: 3    NOT PRESENT: 2
DECLARED AN INTEREST: 1    EXCUSED ATTENDANCE: 1

Mike Higgins declared an interest because of the second part of the proposition - he is involved with charities receiving States aid. Alan Breckon, for some reason, voted against.

The amendment itself was amended by the Chief Minister, so that the grant information was more restricted:

P117/2009/Amd(4)Amd Draft Annual Business Plan 2010 (P.117/2009): fourth amendment (P.117/2009 Amd.(4)) -paragraph (2) amendment.

In paragraph 2, in the amending paragraph (i) after the words "total income of the organisation" add the words "except where to do so would breach confidentiality agreements, Codes of Practice or legislation such as Data Protection legislation".
(2) In paragraph 2, in the amending paragraph (ii) after the words "with no de minimis level for this listing" add the words "except where to do so would breach confidentiality agreements, Codes of Practice or legislation such as Data Protection legislation."

Votes:

POUR: 33    CONTRE: 3    ILL: 1    EN DEFAUT: 4    NOT PRESENT: 10
DECLARED AN INTEREST: 1    EXCUSED ATTENDANCE: 1

Alan Breckon, Debbie de Sousa and Trevor Pitman opposed this.