Fiscal Policy Panel: re-appointment of members and appointment of new members.

STATES OF JERSEY

FISCAL POLICY PANEL: RE-APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS AND APPOINTMENT OF NEW MEMBERS

Presented to the States on 14th March 2014 by the Minister for Treasury and Resources

STATES GREFFE

2014   Price code: B  R.31

REPORT

Background

The Fiscal Policy Panel was established as part of a new Fiscal Framework when the States agreed proposition P.133/2006. The objectives of the Framework are to create a more transparent and credible process for making tax and spending decisions in the Island. In addition, to ensure that fiscal policy is set in a more counter-cyclical way that supports economic growth and low inflation.

The Framework incorporates the Stabilisation Fund, with the Minister for Treasury and Resources responsible for its operation but having regard to the advice of the independent Fiscal Policy Panel (FPP). The States agreed that the FPP would be made up  of  leading  independent  economists  that  can  bring  together  the  right  mix  of experience and skills.

The  States  agreed  the  appointment  of  the  existing  Panel  (Mr. Christopher Allsopp, C.B.E.,  Ms. Marian Bell, C.B.E.  and  Mr. Joly Dixon, C.M.G.)  on  the recommendation of the Minister for Treasury and Resources in September 2007; and their  re-appointment  for  a  further  3 years  in  October  2010.  Mr. Joly Dixon  was appointed  as  Chair  on  both  occasions.  In  2013  the  Minister  re-appointed  the 3 members of the FPP for a further 6 months (R.110/2013).

In September 2013 the FPP was put on a statutory basis, with their main purpose to continue to publish an annual report on the state of the economy in Jersey and States finances, with particular reference to –

• the strength of the economy in Jersey;
• the outlook for the economy in Jersey and, generally, world economies and financial markets;
• the economic cycle in Jersey;
• the medium and long-term sustainability of the States' finances, having regard to the foregoing matters; and
• transfers to or from the Strategic Reserve Fund and Stabilisation Fund, having regard to the foregoing matters.

Appointments process

There was open competition for these appointments in line with the Appointments Commission's  Code  of  Practice  for  Appointments  to  Autonomous  and  Quasi- autonomous Public Bodies and Tribunals: http://appointmentscommission.je/JACquangos.pdf.

The States' Economic Adviser was asked to manage this process, which involved placing  2 adverts  in  The Economist  and  in  addition,  recruitment  experts  Odgers Berndston were engaged to complement this with a wide-ranging search to attract additional candidates of suitable calibre.

The whole recruitment process was conducted under the supervision of the Jersey Appointments  Commission,  who  have  confirmed  that  they  are  content  that  the recruitment process has been conducted appropriately, meeting the standards required in openness of competition, impartiality, equality and selection based on merit.

All shortlisted candidates were interviewed by a Panel chaired by a Member of the Jersey  Appointments  Commission  and  including  the  Minister  for  Treasury  and Resources, the Treasurer of the States and the States' Economic Adviser.

The recruitment process was very successful in attracting high-calibre candidates. In making the decision on who to appoint, a balance was struck between maintaining continuity of the existing Panel and the expertise they have built up over the last 6 years, planning for succession, balancing the skill sets of the future Panel, and bringing in new members with significant expertise and an impeccable track record in economic policy to build on the excellent work of the FPP.

As a result, the Minister proposes from 30th March 2014 to –

• re-appoint Mr. Joly Dixon, C.M.G. as Chair for a period of a further 2 years
• re-appoint Mr. Christopher Allsopp, C.B.E. for a period of a further 2 years
• appoint Ms. Tera Allas for a period of 5 years (subject to clearance through the UK Government's Business Appointments Rules process, which applies to former  Crown servants  who  intend  to  take  up  an outside appointment or employment after leaving the UK Civil Service)
• appoint Ms. Kate Barker, C.B.E. for a period of 5 years.

The process resulted in 4 highly-qualified candidates being selected. Mr. Joly Dixon and Mr. Christopher Allsopp have agreed to continue in their roles, bringing their unique experience and insight to the Panel. In addition, Ms. Tera Allas and Ms. Kate Barker bring a wealth of experience, and demonstrate all the qualities required to take the work of the FPP forward over the next 5 years and hopefully, if re-appointed, for the next 10 years.

These appointments will mean that the Panel will be in the strongest position possible to give independent, clear, informed and credible advice for the Budget 2015, and in particular the next MTFP in 2015, and for similar important States' decisions in future years.

The biographies of all Panel members are included below. Contract lengths have been chosen to ensure that existing members do not exceed 10 years on the Panel, in line with Appointments Commission guidelines; and that they are not the same length, so that all members' terms do not expire in the same year. The new members have also been given longer contracts to give them greater certainty about their roles. It would also be beneficial to give the 2 new members the added confidence and certainty that the expectation is that they will be re-appointed for a second term.

The decision not to re-appoint Ms. Marian Bell was no reflection on all the excellent work she has done over the last 6 years, but simply a result of the need to refresh the Panel and balance the skill sets of the new members. The Minister is sure that like

him, States Members would want to show their gratitude in thanking Marian Bell for all her efforts.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no additional resource implications arising from the appointment of 3 of the members, as the salary and running costs of the FPP are part of the existing budget of the Chief Minister's Department. However, the fact that the Panel will increase in size from  3  to  4 members  for  the  next  2 years  will  incur  additional  salary  costs  of £18,000 per annum.

Biographies of re-appointed/new members

Mr. Joly Dixon, C.M.G. has chaired Jersey's Fiscal Policy Panel since its inception in 2007. He is also a member of the European Commission's task force for Greece, which  was  set  up  in  2010  by  the  Greek  Prime  Minister  and  the  Commission's President, to provide technical assistance to Greece for the implementation of its economic adjustment programme. Between 2008 and 2010, he was a member of the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property Policy. He was Senior Adviser to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development between 2007 and 2010 and a member of the UK Statistics Commission between 2006 and 2010. Previously, he worked for nearly 30 years at the European Commission, holding a variety of senior economic  posts.  He  was  Director  for  International  Economic  Affairs  in  the Department for Economic and Financial Affairs from 1992 to 2003. Prior to this, he was in the private office of former Commission President Jacques Delors, advising the President on economic and monetary affairs.

Mr. Christopher Allsopp, C.B.E. has been a member of the Fiscal Policy Panel since its inception in 2007. He is President of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, where he was Director from 2006 to 2013. He is a fellow of New College, Oxford and a reader in Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. He is the editor of the Oxford Review  of  Economic  Policy  and  a  director  of  Oxford  Economic  Forecasting.  In 2003/04 he conducted the Allsopp Review of Statistics for Economic Policy-making for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He is a former member of the Monetary Policy Committee (2000 to 2003) and of the Court of Directors of the Bank of England (1997 to 2000). He has also undertaken a wide range of economic advisory roles for a number of organisations, including the OECD, H.M. Treasury, the Bank of England and the World Bank.

Ms. Tera Allas  was,  until  recently,  Director-General  of  Strategic  Advice  at  the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and a member of the Top 200 Group in the UK Senior Civil Service. From 2011 to July 2013, she was Director- General of Strategy, Analysis and Better Regulation at BIS and Deputy Head of the Government Economic Service. She is a member of the BIS Secretary of State's Panel for Monitoring the Economy. From 2009 to 2011, she was Chief Economist and Director of Transport Analysis and Economics at the Department for Transport; and between 2004 and 2009 she was Chief Energy Economist, Director of Energy Market Economics and Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Trade and Industry. From 1992 to 2004 she worked in a number of senior roles at McKinsey and Company, Incorporated.

Ms. Kate Barker, C.B.E.  currently  undertakes  a  number  of  senior  advisory  and non-executive roles. She has been part-time Senior Adviser to Credit Suisse since October 2010;  and  Non-Executive  Director  of:  Electra  Private  Equity  plc.  (since November 2010),  Yorkshire  Building  Society  (since  November 2010),  and   Taylor Wimpey, plc. (since April 2011). She is leading a Quality Review of the National Accounts  Office  for  National  Statistics  (report  due  spring  2014),  and  chairing  a commission on Health and Social Care for the King's Fund (report due autumn 2014). In  addition,  she  is  a  non-executive  member  of  the  UK  Office  for  Budget Responsibility, and Chair of the Northern Ireland Economic Advisory Group; and was a Member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Bank of England from 2001 to 2010. Ms. Barker led 2 major policy reviews reporting to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government: the Barker Review of UK Housing Supply (2003 to 2004), and the Barker Review of Land-Use Planning (2005 to 2006). From 1994 to 2001 she was Chief Economic Advisor, C.B.I., and between 1996 and 1997  she  was  a  Member  of  Chancellor  Clarke's  Panel  of  Economic Advisers.  Between  1985  and  1994  she  was  Chief  European  Economist,  Ford  of Europe.