A REVIEW into the effectiveness of STAC and emergency decision making bodies should be undertaken by the government, a scrutiny report has suggested.
The Public Accounts Committee has published its report examining certain areas of the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and believes that the Emergency Powers and Planning Law (Jersey) Law 1990 should be replaced to reflect ‘the realities of ministerial governance for future crises’.
However, the committee said they were ‘satisfied’ with the government’s management of finances and performance during the pandemic.
Deputy Inna Gardiner, chair of the PAC, said: ‘We appreciate that, due to the nature of such exceptional events, the government’s response to Covid-19 could not have been predicted or rehearsed. However, the stresses placed upon our emergency response team and the wider civil service exposed weaknesses in its procedures which can be improved to enhance Jersey’s response to future emergencies. The system that we use to tailor those solutions can and should be improved following every emergency as a matter of routine. In this way we can identify areas in which streamlined decision making could improve our future response.’
The PAC said it remains unclear the distinction between the purpose of the following three bodies – the Council of Ministers, Emergencies Council and Competent Authorities Ministers.
They added that there were concerns over the release of meeting minutes from CAMs to Scrutiny.
Deputy Gardiner said: ‘It is also the case that Jersey’s 32-year-old Emergency Powers and Planning (Jersey) Law 1990 was drafted prior to the introduction of the ministerial government and was not designed for our current structures and practices.’
The PAC has recommended that an ‘internal review should be undertaken of STAC and of the effectiveness of government emergency decision making bodies to identify improvements, the appropriateness of the functions and whether there is a need to create a distinct independent scientific advisory body’.
Other recommendations included staff at the General Hospital undertaking a survey to better understand their wellbeing and concerns raised as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
They have also suggested that the government improve the guidance given as part of business support scheme’s in order to reduce the number of overclaims. They said that the complexity of the Co-Funded Payroll Scheme created misunderstanding from some applications. They have suggested the creation of a dedicated support officer to give assistance to applicants and ensure that the guidance is understood.
St Martin Constable Karen Shenton-Stone, vice chair of the PAC, said: ‘As the pandemic and indeed the government’s response is not yet over, we urge this committee’s successor to continue this important work by reviewing aspects of the Covid-19 response such as the test and trace and vaccination programmes as part of its future work programme.’
