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Health and Social Care Commission: appointment of Chairman.

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STATES OF JERSEY

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE COMMISSION: APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

Presented to the States on 15th May 2017 by the Chief Minister

STATES GREFFE

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REPORT

Introduction

The Chief Minister, having consulted the Council of Ministers is appointing Mr. Robert Glenn  Houston  (known  as  Glenn)  as  Chairman  of  the  Health  and  Social  Care Commission (the "Care Commission"). The Chief Minister gave the States Assembly two-weeks notice of his intention to appoint the Chairman (MD-HA-2017-0017 R.27/2017).

The Care Commission is established under Article 35 and Schedule 2 of the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014 (the "2014 Law"). Article 35 states –

"35  Establishment of Health and Social Care Commission

  1. There shall be a Health and Social Care Commission.
  2. The  Commission  shall  be  a  body  corporate  with  perpetual succession.
  3. The Commission shall consist of not less than 4 and not more than 8 Commissioners.
  4. The  States  may  by Regulations  amend,  in  paragraph (3),  the minimum and maximum number of Commissioners.
  5. Schedule 2  has  effect  regarding  the  appointment  of  the Commissioners, the discharge of the functions of the Commission, and the resources and funding of the Commission.".

Schedule 2, paragraph 2(2), of the 2014 Law requires that –

"(2)  The Chief Minister shall, after consulting with the Council of Ministers –

  1. select and  appoint,  by  instrument in  writing,  a  person  to  be  a Commissioner and the Chairman of the Commission; and
  2. decide the duration of that person's appointment as a Commissioner and Chairman.".

The 2014 Law further requires, under Schedule 2, paragraph 2(4), that –

"(4)  The Chief Minister shall, at least 2 weeks before making the appointment

under  sub-paragraph (2),  present  to  the  States  a  notice  of  his  or  her selection and the intention to make the appointment.".

Background to the Care Commission

The 2014 Law provides for the establishment of the Care Commission. The functions of the Care Commission, which are conferred on it by the 2014 Law, include –

  • serving of improvement notices on registered health and social care providers or managers
  • preparation and publication of standards for compliance with requirements imposed by Regulations

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  • carrying out inspections of any regulated activity at such interviews as specified in Regulations.

Matters relating to appointment

In  accordance  with the  requirements  of  the  2014 Law,  the  selection  process  was overseen  by  the  Jersey  Appointments  Commission.  In  addition,  the  proposed appointment conforms with the legal requirements of the 2014 Law with regard to skills, knowledge  and  experience  (as  set  out  in  Schedule 2,  paragraph 3(2))  and disqualifications for appointment (as set out in Schedule 2, paragraph 4).

When the Chairman has been appointed, he must then select and nominate not less than 3 and not more than 7 persons to be the other Commissioners. Article 35(3) of the 2014 Law prescribes that –

"(3)  The  Commission shall consist of not less  than  4 and not more  than

8 Commissioners.".

Financial and resource implications

The Chairman will be contracted to work 8 days per year at £550 per day (10 days in Year 1), with an additional travel time allowance equivalent to 0.5 days for each 2 days on Island – equivalent to £688 per day.

As detailed within P.95/2014, the costs associated with the Care Commission are met from fee income.

Short biography: Mr. Robert Glenn Houston (known as Glenn) A biography of the proposed Chairman is set out below:

Mr. Glenn Houston is an experienced senior executive, with over 35 years' experience of working in the integrated health and social care system in Northern Ireland.

He has over 20 years' experience of operating at Board level, having worked at Director and Chief Executive levels in a number of organisations.

Between 2009 and 2016, Mr. Houston was Chief Executive of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, Northern Ireland's independent health and social care regulator.

He was for 3 years a member of the Board of the European Partnership of Supervisory Organisations, and served as President of that Board in 2015.

Mr. Houston is a qualified social worker. In 2014 he was awarded a Master of Science Degree  in  Inter-professional  Health  and  Social  Care  Management  from  Queen's University Belfast.

He is a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of the Human Tissue Authority, the Disclosure and Barring Service, and the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

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