committee report template - clean - tynwald · information paper issued on behalf of the committee...

PP 2017/0038

TYNWALD STANDING

ORDERS COMMITTEE

SECOND REPORT FOR THE

SESSION 2016-2017

Membership of the Public

Accounts Committee

TYNWALD STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE

SECOND REPORT FOR THE SESSION 2016-2017

Tynwald Standing Orders

5. Standing Orders Committee

5.1 There shall be a Standing Orders Committee of the Court to carry out the

duties imposed upon it by Standing Orders 6.8 and 9.1, and to make

recommendations to the Court for the revision of Standing Orders.

5.2 The Committee shall be composed of the Speaker of the House of Keys,

who shall be the chairman, two Members of the Keys and two Members of the

Council.

The powers, privileges and immunities relating to the work of a committee of

Tynwald are those conferred by sections 3 and 4 of the Tynwald Proceedings Act

1876, sections 1 to 4 of the Privileges of Tynwald (Publications) Act 1973 and

sections 2 to 4 of the Tynwald Proceedings Act 1984.

Committee Membership

The Hon J P Watterson SHK (Rushen) (Chairman)

Hon R K Harmer MHK (Glenfaba and Peel)

Mr D J Ashford MHK (Douglas North)

Mr C G Corkish MBE MLC

Mr J R Turner MLC

Copies of this Report may be obtained from the Tynwald Library, Legislative

Buildings, Finch Road, Douglas IM1 3PW (Tel: 01624 685520) or may be consulted at

www.tynwald.org.im

All correspondence with regard to this Report should be addressed to the Clerk of

Tynwald, Legislative Buildings, Finch Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3PW.

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1

II. BACKGROUND TO THE REFERRAL................................................................... 2

III. PROPOSAL..................................................................................................... 3

WRITTEN EVIDENCE .............................................................................................. 5

APPENDIX 1: EXTRACT FROM THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT COVERING ACTIVITY

DURING THE SESSION 2015/2016 - ANNEX 3: LIMITATIONS ON THE COMMITTEE’S ABILITY TO FUNCTION

ARISING FROM CONFLICT OF INTEREST AFFECTING MEMBERS, APRIL 2014 TO JULY 2016 7

To: The Hon Stephen C Rodan, President of Tynwald,

and the Hon Council and Keys in Tynwald assembled

STANDING ORDERS OF TYNWALD COMMITTEE

SECOND REPORT FOR THE SESSION 2016-2017

Membership of the Public Accounts Committee

I. INTRODUCTION

1. This report considers the membership of the Public Accounts Committee (‘the

PAC’), and particularly how to proceed in the event of a conflict of interest.

2. This matter was referred to us on 17th May 2016 by a resolution of Tynwald:

That Tynwald supports the work of the Public Accounts Committee but requires

the Standing Orders Committee to review the membership of the Public

Accounts Committee after the General Election.

3. The resolution was the result of a successful amendment by Mr Cannan, then

Chair of the PAC, to Mr Karran’s original motion:

That Tynwald views with concern the inability of the Public Accounts

Committee to function resulting from conflicts of interest affecting its

members; and that after the General Election the Standing Orders Committee

should consider and report on:

(a) making members of Departments and Statutory Boards ineligible for

election to the Public Accounts Committee; and

(b) appointing four lay members of the public to the Public Accounts Committee

to ensure transparency and public accountability.

1

4. The membership of the PAC is defined in the Schedule to the Standing Orders as

follows:

3.2 The Committee shall have –

(a) a Chairman elected by Tynwald,

(b) a Vice-Chairman elected by Tynwald,

(c) three other Members, who shall be Chairman of each of the Policy Review

Committees (ex officio).

II. BACKGROUND TO THE REFERRAL

5. As a Committee of five, the PAC has a quorum of three. When potential

absences are factored in, this means that problems can arise if two or more

members are conflicted.1

6. Ministers and members of the Treasury are ineligible to serve on the PAC,

meaning that there is no chance that a conflict of interest could prevent the PAC

from considering matters pertaining only to the Council of Ministers and the

Treasury.2

7. However, the system of departmental and statutory board membership means

that conflicts of interest can arise with any other Department or Statutory

Board. Standing Orders state that

3.5 The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and any member of the Committee shall not

sit when the accounts of any body of which that person is a member are being

considered.

8. Between April 2014 and April 2016, the PAC was inquorate at nearly every

meeting with regard to matters affecting at least two Departments and/or

Statutory Boards; at one meeting (8th July 2015), the PAC would not have been

able to discuss the work of five Departments and one Statutory Board.3

9. During the debate on Mr Karran’s motion, Mr Cannan stressed that this did not

mean that the Committee was unable to function:

1 Appendix 1.

2 Schedule to the Standing Orders of Tynwald Court 3.3.

3 Appendix 1.

2

I admit there have been occasions when some items may have been delayed for

a period of time before they were looked at, but there have been no occasions I

am aware of that any critical issues have not been investigated.

10. Nevertheless, this is clearly undesirable. The PAC should be able to perform its

scrutiny role as and when it needs to do so.

11. It is worth noting that the present membership of the PAC could result in a

similar conflict of interest and resulting lack of quorum: both Mr Callister and Mr

Crookall are currently members of the Department of Economic Development.

III. PROPOSAL

12. Bearing in mind that this issue may need to be revisited after the consideration

of the Lord Lisvane report, we are of the opinion that the membership of the

PAC should remain the same for the time being.

13. It would, however, be useful for there to be a procedure in place for use

whenever a conflict of interest arises. This would not only be when the conflict

of interest renders the Committee inquorate; we would instead prefer to pre-

empt such a situation, which may be caused by absence due to unforeseen

circumstances.

14. We therefore propose that Tynwald may elect an alternate member to replace

any conflicted member for the duration of a particular inquiry. A conflicted

member would continue to be a member of the Committee for all other

inquiries in which he or she was not conflicted.

Recommendation

That the following amendments be made to the Schedule to the Standing

Orders of Tynwald Court:

(1) In paragraph 3.2, before “The Committee shall have”, insert “Subject to

paragraph 3.6,”.

(2) After paragraph 3.5, insert the following new paragraph:

“3.6 Should the need arise in relation to a particular matter, such as a conflict

of interest, Tynwald may elect an alternate member for the purpose and

duration of the Committee’s consideration of that matter. Subject to

paragraph 3.5, a conflicted member so replaced shall continue to serve as a

member of the Committee for all other purposes.”

3

J P Watterson (Chair)

D J Ashford

C G Corkish

R K Harmer

J R Turner

February 2017

4

WRITTEN EVIDENCE

5

Appendix 1: Extract from the Public

Accounts Committee Annual Report

Covering Activity During the Session

2015/2016 - Annex 3: Limitations on the

committee’s ability to function arising

from conflict of interest affecting

members, April 2014 to July 2016

7

ANNEX 3: LIMITATIONS ON THE COMMITTEE’S ABILITY TO FUNCTION ARISING

FROM CONFLICT OF INTEREST AFFECTING MEMBERS, APRIL 2014 TO JULY 2016

Information paper issued on behalf of the Committee

1. The Public Accounts Committee explained in its Annual Report covering the session 2014/15

(PP 2015/134) that as a Committee of five the PAC has a quorum of three. This means that:

if one member is conflicted, a quorum can be formed by the other four and a decision

can be taken even if one of them is absent;

if two members are conflicted, a quorum can be formed by the other three so long as

no-one is absent. However, if one of the unconflicted members is absent, the

Committee cannot act;

if three members are conflicted, the Committee cannot act.

2. It should be noted that under paragraph 3.3 of the Schedule to Tynwald Standing Orders,

Ministers and Members of the Treasury cannot be appointed to the PAC. Therefore a

conflict cannot arise which would prevent the PAC from being able to consider Cabinet

Office and Treasury matters.

3. Since April 2014, because of an unfortunate combination of circumstances, this system has

generated some difficulties for the PAC:

DED: from May 2015 to October 2015 two members of the PAC (Mr Cannan and

Mr Wild) were members of the Department of Economic Development. This situation

ended briefly in October 2015 when Mr Wild left the Department. However, in January

2016 Mr Cretney was appointed to the Department. Current position: two members of

the PAC (Mr Cannan and Mr Cretney) are members of DED.

MUA: since April 2014 two members of the PAC (Mr Cannan and Mr Coleman) have

been members of the Manx Utilities Authority. Current position: two members of the

PAC (Mr Cannan and Mr Coleman) are members of the MUA.

Post Office: Mr Corkish was Vice Chairman of the Post Office from 2007 to 2011 and

Chairman from 2011 to 2014. Although strictly speaking no longer conflicted, Mr Corkish

decided to declare an interest and withdraw from the PAC when Post Office business

was being considered. Meanwhile Mr Wild was appointed Vice Chairman of the Post

9

Office in July 2015. Current position: two members of the PAC (Mr Corkish and Mr Wild)

are current or recent former members of the Post Office.

DHSC: from April 2014 to May 2015 three members of the PAC (Mr Butt, Mr Cannan,

Mr Coleman) were also members of the Department of Health and Social Care). This

made it impossible for the PAC to consider any DHSC business during that time even if all

Committee members were present. This situation ended in May 2015 when Mr Butt was

replaced on the Committee by Mr Wild. In June 2015 Mr Cannan left the Department

but Mr Wild joined it. In March 2016 Mr Wild resigned from the Department. Current

position: one member of the PAC (Mr Coleman) is a member of the DHSC.

DEC: from May to June 2015 two members of the PAC (Mr Corkish and Mr Wild) were

members of the Department of Education and Children. This situation ended in

November 2015 when Mr Wild left that Department. Current position: one member of

the PAC (Mr Corkish) is a member of the DEC.

From April to September 2015 Mrs Cannell was absent for personal reasons. In October

2015 Mr Cretney replaced her on the Committee.

4. The table on the following pages shows for every PAC meeting since April 2014:

which Departments and Boards were affected by two or more PAC members being

conflicted;

which PAC members were absent from the meeting; and

as a result of the combination of the two above points, which Departments and Boards

the Committee could not have considered at that meeting, in the event that business

relating to that Department or Board had appeared on the Committee’s agenda.

Jonathan King

Clerk of the Public Accounts Committee

12th July 2016

10

Depts/Boards with two or more

PAC members

PAC Members

absent

Tsy

CO

DEC

DED

DEFA

DH

A

DH

SC

DO

I

CC

FSA

GSC

MN

H

MU

A

OFT

PO

PSP

A

PSC

2/4/2014 DHSC: Butt, Cannan, Coleman

MUA: Cannan, Coleman

Corkish

x x



x



x



Butt

x x



Coleman

x



Corkish

x x



x



Corkish

x



x



x



Cannell

x x

1111


PAC members

PAC Members

absent

Tsy

CO

DEC

DED

DEFA

DH

A

DH

SC

DO

I

CC

FSA

GSC

MN

H

MU

A

OFT

PO

PSP

A

PSC



x



Cannell

x x

21/5/2015 DEC: Corkish, Wild

DED: Cannan, Wild

DHSC: Cannan, Coleman


Cannell

x x x x


DED: Cannan, Wild

DHSC: Coleman, Wild


Cannell

x x x x


DED: Cannan, Wild

DHSC: Coleman, Wild


Cannell, Wild

x x x x x x


DED: Cannan, Wild

DHSC: Coleman, Wild


PO: Corkish, Wild

Cannell

x x x x x


DED: Cannan, Wild

DHSC: Coleman, Wild


PO: Corkish, Wild

Cannell

x x x x x


DHSC: Coleman, Wild


PO: Corkish, Wild

2/12/2015 DHSC: Coleman, Wild


PO: Corkish, Wild

1212


PAC members

PAC Members

absent

Tsy

CO

DEC

DED

DEFA

DH

A

DH

SC

DO

I

CC

FSA

GSC

MN

H

MU

A

OFT

PO

PSP

A

PSC

13/1/2016 DED: Cannan, Cretney

DHSC: Coleman, Wild


PO: Corkish, Wild

Wild

x x


DHSC: Coleman, Wild


PO: Corkish, Wild

Wild

x x



PO: Corkish, Wild

Wild

x x



PO: Corkish, Wild



PO: Corkish, Wild

1313

Parliamentary Copyright

Available from:

The Tynwald Library

Legislative Buildings

DOUGLAS

Isle of Man, IM1 3PW

British Isles February 2017

Tel: 01624 685520

e-mail: [email protected] Price: £2.75

committee report template - clean - tynwald · information paper issued on behalf of the committee...

Documents