Parliament could soon have oversight authority for the appointment of members of some state boards.

There are also calls for similar authority to be granted over appointments to commissions established under the Constitution of Jamaica.

Proposals for the appropriate mechanisms to facilitate these changes will be considered by the Standing Orders Committee of Parliament, which started meeting yesterday, under the chairmanship of House Speaker Delroy Chuck.

At the conclusion of the brief meeting, most members present appeared to be close to consensus on a multi-track approach to the issue.

In one category, all members of boards that have significant regulatory powers would be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and approval.

Fit and proper scrutiny

Fitz Jackson, former minister of state in the Ministry of Finance, argued that because these regulatory boards have to determine fit and proper criteria for persons operating in the sector they regulate, the board members themselves should be subject to such 'fit and proper' scrutiny in Parliament. He was supported in this distinction by Robert Montague, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, and Dr. Peter Phillips, Leader of Opposition Business in the House.

Dr. Phillips proposed a second category - where the board has no such regulatory role. In that case, only the proposed chairman would appear before Parliament, unless there are specific concerns regarding a particular board member being proposed, which might lead to that person also appearing.

It was important, Dr. Phillips argued, to avoid a situation in which Parliament got 'bogged down' with the details of too many board appointments, thereby undercutting its time to focus on other business.

Deputy Speaker Marissa Dalrymple-Phillibert urged her colleagues to approach the issue with caution, however, arguing that it was a very sensitive matter.