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Jersey Community Relations Trust: appointment of Chair

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STATES OF JERSEY

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JERSEY COMMUNITY RELATIONS TRUST: APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR

 

Presented to the States on 24th March 2020 by the Minister for Home Affairs

 

STATES GREFFE

2020  R.28

2

REPORT

The constitution of the Jersey Community Relations Trust ("the Trust") provides that the Committee of Trustees shall comprise an independent Chair (who is not a States Member), a Member of the States of Jersey who is committed to the objectives of the Trust, and a further 5 Trustees, who are not States Members, and who are appointed by the existing Trustees. The Chair and States Member are appointed by the Minister.

Paragraph 5.1 of the Trust Constitution requires the Minister to give at least 15 days' notice to the States of his intention to appoint a Chair, who is not a Member of the States, to the Community Relations Trust. This is in line with the States' decision to change the procedure for most States-made appointments (P.205/2009).

The tenure of Advocate Helen Ruelle, who has been the Chair of the Trust since October 2015, ended in October 2019. The Minister would like to record his thanks to Advocate Ruelle for her distinguished contribution to the Trust during her chairmanship.

Following Advocate Ruelle's departure, the Trust ran a recruitment campaign to find a new Chair and advised the Jersey Appointments Commission of its intention to recruit. The Commission confirmed that it didn't need to be directly involved in the recruitment. It  recommended,  however,  that  the  Trust  follow  its  guidelines  on  recruiting  to independent bodies. The Trust followed this guidance.

Two candidates were interviewed, but neither were able to take up the role. One candidate had a conflict of interest barring them from appointment. The other candidate could not commit to the role because of constraints on their time.

In the absence of eligible candidates, the current Vice-Chair of the Trust, Mr. Matthew Christensen, has agreed to take up the role as Chair of the Trust. This is supported by the rest of the Trustees.

The Minister is grateful to Mr. Christensen for agreeing to take on this important role, and would like to appoint him for a 4-year period in line with the Trust's constitution.

Mr. Matthew Christensen

Employment

Present – Director of R&H Trust Co. (Jersey) Limited

2016–2018 – Director of Intertrust

2013–2016 – Senior Manager at Volaw Trust & Corporate Services Limited.

Appointments

Mr. Christensen was elected Trustee of the Jersey Community Relations Trust in May 2015 and has undertaken the role of Vice-Chair since July 2018.

R.28/2020