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Jersey Appointments Commission: Appointment of Chair

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STATES OF JERSEY

JERSEY APPOINTMENTS COMMISSION: APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR

Presented to the States on 14th September 2022 by the Chief Minister

STATES GREFFE

2022  R.125

2

REPORT

Introduction

The Jersey Appointments Commission is established under the Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005, Part 4 (the Law'). The Commission consists of a Chair and not more than 5 other Commissioners.

This report is presented in pursuance of Article 18 of the Law. The Rt Hon Dame Janet Paraskeva has been Chair of the JAC since September 2014 and her term of office expires on the 30 September 2022. The Chief Minister intends to appoint a new Chair to the Jersey Appointments Commission, Mr Chris Stephenson , for a period of 4 years, and so notifies the States Assembly of this intention.

Background

The function of the Jersey Appointments Commission is set out in Part 4 of the Law, and is to oversee the recruitment of States' employees or States' appointees so as to ensure that, as far as practicable:

the recruitment is fair, efficient and conducted in accordance with best practice principles and procedures;

appointments are made on merit;

members of the States are only involved in the recruitment of States' employees and appointees in accordance with codes of practice or guidelines.

The JAC has issued Recruitment Guidelines and other policy advice, which is available on the Internet. An Annual Report is prepared each year and presented to the States Employment  Board  before  being  presented  to  the  States  Assembly  by  the  Chief Minister.

Recruitment procedure

The Recruitment Panel consisted of:

Richard Stevens – Chair and non-voting member

Jennifer Carnegie – Director of Amicus Ltd, Chair of Jersey Business and President of Jersey Chamber of Commerce

Julie Coward – Ex Chair of Jersey Hospice (independent)

Richard McCarthy – Chair of Andium Homes.

The recruitment process was managed by the McLean Partnership, who conducted a search for suitable high calibre candidates both on and off Island, in the private and public sector. The position was advertised locally in the Jersey Evening Post and Bailiwick Express, as well as nationally in the Sunday Times, and on McLean's own website. Applications were received from Jersey and the UK. The Panel shortlisted 5 candidates for interview, which were undertaken on the 28 June and 13 July 2022. The Panel were unanimous in their recommendation to the Chief Minister of 2 appointable candidates. The Chief Minister received independent endorsement from the Panel Chair, Mr Richard Stevens, that the process had been undertaken in line with the highest standards. The final decision was made by the Chief Minister, having first consulted the States Employment Board.

R.125/2022

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Appointee

Chris Stephenson is an experienced Human Resources professional, with several years at a senior management and Director level in both the private and public sector in the UK  and  Jersey.  His  career  has  spanned  several  business  industries,  including manufacturing, financial and professional services, the tech sector and start-ups. He has previously  been  a  non-executive  director,  and  also  owned  and  managed  his  own management and consultancy business. He is currently completing an assignment working for Sensyne Health, an AIM listed public company, reporting directly to the CEO/founder, as part of the senior leadership team.

He has extensive experience in the public sector, having worked for the Ministry of Justice at senior civil service level, Local Government, working for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and also the NHS in the acute and primary care sectors. He spent 7 years  with  the  Government  of  Jersey  as  Director  Employment  Relations  and Organisational Development and was also advisor to the States Employment Board.

He already has extensive experience of Jersey's government and democratic system which, when aligned with the diversity of his career, will prove invaluable when commencing the role of Chair of the Jersey Appointments Commission.

Financial and manpower implications

This  appointment  does  not  have  any  additional  resource  implications,  as  it  is  a replacement appointment. Travel costs will be reduced as a result of appointing locally.

R.125/2022