A SUB-PANEL of politicians has been formed to scrutinise changes to a law which will regulate public health services.
The amendments to the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014 are due to expand the Jersey Care Commission’s remit to include hospital, ambulance and mental health services.
But confusion emerged earlier this week over which scrutiny panel would review the legislation before it is debated in the States Assembly in September.
As the changes have been lodged by the Environment Minister, the relevant panel of scrutineers – the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel – would generally be responsible for looking at the law.
But in a letter published last week, chair Deputy Hilary Jeune said it would “not be appropriate” for her panel to undertake this review due to the “subject matter and specialist nature”.
But the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel yesterday confirmed that a sub-panel has been formed to take on the task. It will include Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel members, alongside other politicians.
Deputy Jeune said: “It is important that we scrutinise this critical legislation to ensure that the independent regulation of Jersey’s hospital and ambulance services, including mental health, are regulated effectively in the interests of the public by the Jersey Care Commission.”
“A review of this legislation falls within the remit of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel,” she added, noting that a discussion with the Scrutiny Liaison Committee was held on Tuesday to request the formation of a sub-panel.
“The establishment of the sub-panel is to ensure appropriate oversight and reflects the cross-cutting relevance of the topic and is not due to a limitation on the part of the Health and Social Security Panel to scrutinise the legislation,” said Deputy Jeune.
