Committee Meetings

The purpose of Committee meetings is to discharge Committee mandates. They are the engine room of political States' work, and are carried out according to formal Rules of Procedure designed to help Committees run smoothly.

As outlined in the previous page, ahead of any meeting of the States of Deliberation, much preparatory work will have already happened in Committee meetings. Committees prepare proposals, usually in the form of a policy letter, which are discussed and agreed upon in formal Committee meetings, before being debated and voted on by the Assembly.

Committee chairs, usually the Committee Presidents, are supported by civil servants to devise agendas and decide what documents are needed to support Committee meetings. Those documents are then prepared and circulated to the Committee ahead of each meeting for its Members to consider.

Discussions that take place in formal Committee meetings are normally regarded as confidential to the Members of that Committee.

Correspondence is done largely online and by email, and in many areas the States of Guernsey works in a paperless or near paperless way, which includes the use of electronic agenda packs for meetings. Meetings, including Committee Meetings, can also be held virtually. Therefore, there is an expectation that States' Members will have some IT literacy in order to be able to fully participate in Committee and States’ business.

The names and responsibilities of each Committee, as well as the Boards, Authorities and Commissions of the States, are provided on the next page.