States Members’ Remuneration Review Body: appointment of members

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES MEMBERS' REMUNERATION REVIEW BODY: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

Presented to the States on 20th February 2015 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

2015   Price code: B  R.18

REPORT

The  principle  of  an  independent  review  body  to  make  recommendations  on  the appropriate level of remuneration for elected members of the States was first agreed by the States Assembly in May 2003, and the States Members' Remuneration Review Body  (SMRRB)  was  formally  established  in  June  2004.  SMRRB  has  made recommendations on the appropriate level of remuneration for elected members ever since 2004 and, although these have been debated by the Assembly on a small number of occasions, the recommendations of the Review Body have never been overturned by the States.

Mr. Julian Rogers served as Chairman of SMRRB from the time it was established in 2004, and Mr. Brian Bullock was also a member from that date. The term of office of these 2 members expired in 2014 and, in accordance with the Jersey Appointments Commission code for bodies of this type, neither is eligible for re-appointment as they have served for 10 years. The fact that the Review Body's recommendations have always been implemented without amendment is an indication of the care that has gone into the formulation of the recommendations, and PPC would like to place on record its immense gratitude to Mr. Rogers and Mr. Bullock for the many hours they have spent on SMRRB work over the last 10 years on a purely honorary basis.

The  Terms  of  Reference  of  SMRRB  indicate  that  the  Review  Body  comprises 5 members, and there are currently only 2 members remaining in office, Mr. Maurice Dubras and Mr. John Mills, C.B.E., whose terms of office will finish in 2017.

In addition to the need to replace Mr. Rogers and Mr. Bullock, there has also been one vacancy on the Review Body for some time following an unsuccessful attempt in 2012 to  recruit  a  new  member,  after  the  resignation  of  the  late  Advocate  Christopher Lakeman.

In December 2014, the Privileges and Procedures Committee began a recruitment process to appoint 3 new members to join the Review Body. The positions were advertised in the Jersey Evening Post (see Appendix 1) and in the recruitment section of the Bailiwick Express website. The recruitment process was agreed with the Jersey Appointments Commission, although the Chairman of the Commission indicated that appointments of this nature were not ones where the Commission needed to have a direct involvement.

Nine people responded to the advertisements and submitted an expression of interest to  join  SMRRB,  although  3  of  these  subsequently  withdrew  from  the  selection process. The remaining 6 applicants were all interviewed on Friday 13th February 2015 by a selection Panel chaired by Connétable L. Norman of St. Clement , Chairman of PPC, and comprising the 2 existing SMRRB members, Mr. Maurice Dubras and Mr. John Mills, C.B.E. The Greffier of the States was present during the interviews to make a formal record of the interview process.

At  the  conclusion  of  the  interviews,  the  selection  Panel  was  unanimous  that 3 candidates should be appointed, as these 3 best exhibited the range of skills and experience the Panel was seeking according to the selection criteria. The 3 were –

Mr. Ian Black. Mrs. Louise Read Mr. Gerald White.

A brief biographical summary for each of the 3 candidates is attached at Appendix 2.

Under  the  Terms  of  Reference  of  SMRRB  approved  by  the  States  in  2012  (see Appendix 3), PPC is responsible for appointing the members of the Review Body, but the  Committee  can  only  confirm  the  appointments  after  15 days'  notice  of  the proposed appointments has been given to the States. The purpose of this report is therefore to give members notice of the proposed appointments. Under the Terms of Reference  of  the  Review  Body,  the  members  themselves  will  be  responsible  for appointing one of their number as Chairman, and it is not the responsibility of PPC to nominate a Chairman.

PPC is grateful to all those who took the trouble to reply to the advertisements, and is particularly grateful that Mr. White, Mrs. Read and Mr. Black are willing to give up their time on an honorary basis for the important work undertaken by SMRRB.

APPENDIX 1

ADVERTISEMENT

States Members' Remuneration Review Body Appointment of Members

The Privileges and Procedures Committee is seeking applications for membership of the  States  Members'  Remuneration  Review  Body  which  makes  independent recommendations on all matters concerning the remuneration of elected members of the States.

The Review Body consists of 5 members and there are currently 3 vacancies to fill. The  Privileges  and  Procedures  Committee  is  keen  to  recruit  a  diverse  group  of members with a range of different skills and experience. The appointments are not remunerated.

Applicants should write to the Greffier of the States, States Greffe, Morier House, St. Helier , JE1 1DD (or by e-mail to m.delahaye@gov.je) no later than Monday 22nd December 2014 giving brief details of their personal and professional background and setting out why they believe they could make a useful contribution to the work of the Review Body.

Further  information  for  applicants  can  be  obtained  from  the  States  Assembly Information Centre in Morier House, St. Helier or by contacting the Greffier of the States (telephone 441013 or to m.delahaye@gov.je). The background information is also published in the What's New' section on the home page of the States Assembly website www.statesassembly.gov.je.

APPENDIX 2 Biographical summaries of the 3 proposed new members

Mr. Ian Black

Mr. Black is a Chartered Public Finance Accountant who worked for the States of Jersey as Assistant Director of Education – Finance from March 1988 to June 1999, and then as Treasurer of the States from July 1999 to July 2010. Since leaving this post, he has worked as a visiting Lecturer at Highlands College (November 2010 to June 2013), as Director of Business Accounts and Tax at Holl Cameron & Co. Ltd. (January  2011  to  present  day),  and  as  a  Director  at  HS  Corporate  Services  Ltd. (May 2013 to present day). Since December 2010 he has been Treasurer for the 2015 Island Games Organising Committee, responsible for the £1.8 million budget of the Games. He has been Chairman of the Jersey Stroke Association since September 2010 and has also been a Trustee of the UK Stroke Association since December 2010.

Mrs. Louise Read

Mrs. Read  is  a  Chartered  Accountant  who  qualified  with  PwC  (as  Coopers  and Lybrand) and went on to become a Senior Associate with the firm. From 2001 to 2005 she worked for Jersey Post, firstly as a Financial Accountant and then as Group Financial Accountant as the business prepared for incorporation. She took a career break to raise her family from 2005 to 2009, but during this time still worked part-time from August 2005 to August 2006 as Assistant Bursar at St. George's Preparatory School. Mrs. Read joined the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (now known as the Channel Islands Competition Regulatory Authority) in June 2009 as Head of Finance and Operations, and became a Director and Secretary to the Board of CICRA in  August  2012,  a  position  she  still  holds.  Her  current  role  at  CICRA  also encompasses personnel management, risk management and governance matters.

Mr. Gerald White

Mr. White has extensive experience in human resources and remuneration issues. He started his career as an O&M Analyst for British Telecom in London before joining the States Personnel Department in Jersey, where he worked from 1977 to 1984 as a Personnel Development Manager, a Job Evaluation Manager and an O&M Analyst. He joined Standard Chartered Bank in 1984 and spent some 20 years working for the Bank  both  in  Jersey  and  in  London,  undertaking  a  number  of  different  Human Resources roles, ending his time with Standard Chartered as Human Resources and Training Director – Offshore Businesses, and Regional Head of Human Resources for the UK and Europe (covering businesses comprising 1,300 employees). Since 2003 Mr. White has been a consultant on human resources and remuneration matters for Hassell Blampied, and involved in the surveys of remuneration in Jersey prepared by the firm. Mr. White was Chairman of the Jersey Branch of the British Institute of Management from 1987 to 1990, a Trustee and Secretary of the Standard Chartered Offshore Islands Pension Scheme, and an Executive Director of Standard Chartered Grindlays  (Offshore)  Ltd.,  Jersey.  He  is  a  Fellow  of  the  Chartered  Institute  of Personnel and Development.

APPENDIX 3 Current Terms of Reference of SMRRB (approved by the States in 2012)

1. The Review  Body  will  make  recommendations to the  States,  through  the Privileges  and  Procedures  Committee,  on  any  matters  relating  to the remuneration and expenses of elected members as it considers appropriate.
2. The Review Body shall take any steps it considers necessary to gauge public opinion on the matters within its purview. Equally, the Review Body shall seek the opinions of members of the States from time to time as it considers appropriate.
3. In forming its recommendations the Review Body will take account of any matters that it considers to be relevant and will have particular regard to, but not be bound by, the following matters –

1. the  principles  that  the  level  of  remuneration  available  to  elected members should be sufficient to ensure that no person is precluded from serving as a member of the States by reason of insufficient income  and  that  all  elected  members  should  be  able  to enjoy  a reasonable standard of living, so that the broadest spectrum of persons are able to serve as members of the Assembly;
2. the economic and fiscal situation prevailing in Jersey, any budgetary restraints on the States of Jersey and the States' inflation target, if any, for the period under review.

Membership

4. The Review  Body  shall  consist  of  5 members,  none  of  whom  shall  be a member of the States.
5. The members shall be appointed for a period of 5 years and shall be eligible for re-appointment for one additional 5 year term.
6. The members shall be appointed by the Privileges and Procedures Committee following requisite consultation with the Jersey Appointments Commission. Before  making  any  appointments  the  Committee  shall  nevertheless  be required to present a report to the States setting out the names of the proposed appointees and the appointments shall not be confirmed by the Committee until at least 15 days after the presentation of this report.
7. The Review Body shall appoint one of its members as Chairman.
8. The quorum of the Review Body is 3.

Recommendations

9. The Review  Body  shall  report  its  recommendations  to the  Privileges  and Procedures Committee which shall present them to the States forthwith.

10. The Review Body's recommendations on the actual level of remuneration and expenses  payable  to elected  members  shall  be implemented  automatically unless a proposition seeking a debate on the recommendations is lodged au Greffe' within one month of the date of presentation.
11. The Review Body may make recommendations on other matters within its terms of reference to the Privileges and Procedures Committee but any such recommendations shall not be implemented until they have been agreed by the States.