The government has been heavily criticised after failing to publish the minutes of the Scientific Technical Advisory Cell meetings after July, despite a States decision requiring them to do so.
Ministers have always said the medical professionals involved in those meetings were busy co-ordinating the response to Covid and juggling their day jobs and therefore signing off the minutes for publication was not a priority.
Minutes for meetings up to September have been published.
In the States yesterday, Senator John Le Fondré denied that ministers were showing contempt for the States Assembly by ignoring the approved proposition from Deputy Kevin Pamplin about publishing the minutes.
And he said the first of the minutes for the outstanding meetings – of which there are more than 20 – were due to appear online this week.
‘We are expecting to see movement on the logjam,’ he said. ‘Some minutes are in the process of being put on the website, hopefully in the next few hours, and then more later this week.’
Asked by Deputy Kirsten Morel if he was holding the States Assembly in contempt by not having published the minutes already, Senator Le Fondré added: ‘I think the short answer is no. The longer answer is that we do have to recognise that we all want to see these minutes published but the way that the STAC is operated means that, quite literally, sometimes the members are operating – ie they are in theatre.
‘It is about recognising that the people who are providing all of this are also operating quite literally on Islanders and that obviously is their priority.’
The cell consists of a number of health, scientific and technical advisers who provide information and guidance to government and emergency service representatives during emergencies.
Meanwhile, speaking to the JEP, Deputy Greffier of the States Lisa Hart moved to reassure Islanders that the States Greffe had produced the minutes in a timely fashion and had not been involved in the delay.
She said: ‘We provide an independent and unbiased minute-recording service to States bodies, producing accurate and comprehensive formal minutes of meetings to ensure transparency and good governance.
‘During this unprecedented time, our small Secretariat Officer section has been working to service additional meetings of bodies such as STAC, the Emergencies Council and Competent Authority Ministers in addition to their regular workload, which includes the Council of Ministers, States
Employment Board and the Planning Committee. This team of just three dedicated and hardworking officers have had to write minutes detailing complex legislative, organisational and governance issues quickly and accurately during these pressured political times and have produced those minutes often within hours of the meetings.
The process for signing off those minutes rests with the members of the bodies concerned. In this case, it is a matter for the chairman of STAC as to why they have not yet been published.’
A series of those minutes are now available to view on gov.je.
