Senator John Le Fondré has issued an official response to the report by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel, which wanted to see quicker publication of minutes from the Scientific and Technical Advisory Cell, as well as a clearer indication of whether ministers were following the advice of STAC.
From a total of 13 recommendations within the report, four relating to STAC and other decision-making groups were rejected by the Chief Minister.
However Senator Le Fondré did accept calls for an updated Covid-19 communication strategy and committed to carry out a ‘debriefing and learning process’ relating to the pandemic during 2021.
Published in March to coincide with the first anniversary of the pandemic, the panel’s report said transparency relating to STAC minutes had been inadequate, with a significant time delay until publication.
Senator Le Fondré described this finding as ‘subjective’ and cited the terms of reference for STAC, which states that: ‘Advice is published as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, while upholding the safe space to debate live issues.’
A similar argument was used by the Chief Minister in relation to calls that minutes of ministerial meetings be published within two weeks. He said: ‘It is important that ministers can have full and frank discussions in private, as part of good decision-making.’
Senator Le Fondré said he accepted that it was crucial that effective communication took place to explain decisions in order that they were understood by the public. This communication already took place, he added.
The panel, which is chaired by Senator Kristina Moore, called for ministers to follow STAC advice or to publicly identify areas where they were not doing so, and the reasons behind this, but this recommendation was rejected.
The Chief Minister said: ‘Scientific advisers cannot make policy judgments for politicians to simply “follow”. Ministers are required to make decisions through weighing up a range of social, economic and other factors, alongside operational and other considerations. Decision-makers should assess a range of advice and evidence, including that from STAC, combined with their own experience and judgment, to make decisions.’
Senator Le Fondré said there was a commitment to complete a revised pandemic strategy for the Channel Islands, which would include ‘lessons learnt, the management of risk and solutions implemented to identify good practice which will inform strategic planning in the future’.
