Politicians on the Scrutiny Management Committee want to clearly set out its resources and costs in the States’ budget so its independence can be “seen to exist”.
Currently the expenditure for the oversight committee is combined with the States Assembly & Constitution Committee, which oversees procedures, in a section titled Parliamentary Committees.
But Deputies Andy Sloan, President of Scrutiny, and Liam McKenna, who sits on Scrutiny, want its budget to be split out from this.
“Pooling Scrutiny’s budget with that of another Committee even with assurances of operational autonomy risks creating the perception that independence is being eroded,” they said.
“Such a lack of transparency is incompatible with modern standards of open government and falls short of the expectations rightly placed on a body tasked with ensuring accountability and good governance.”
They have submitted an amendment to the States’ budget which will be debated from 4 November.
“The Scrutiny Management Committee believes it is essential that the resources allocated to the Committee are clearly and transparently identified. The omission of this information in the Budget Report means that the level of resources available to Scrutiny in 2026 is not visible either to Members of the States or to the public,” they added.
Its forecast budget for 2025 is £522,000, up £13,000 from its original allocation.
It has been allocated a budget of £626,000 for 2026, which includes £545,000 in pay costs and £81,000 in non-pay costs.