Extension to the term of appointment for the Chair of the Jersey Care Commission.

STATES OF JERSEY

EXTENSION TO THE TERM OF APPOINTMENT FOR THE CHAIR OF THE JERSEY CARE COMMISSION

Presented to the States on 2nd March 2023 by the Minister for the Environment

STATES GREFFE

2023  R.34

REPORT

In 2017 the Chief Minister appointed Mr. Robert Glenn Houston (known as Glenn) as Chair  of  the  Health  and  Social  Care  Commission  (known  as  the  Jersey  Care Commission  (JCC))  for  an  initial  term  of  3  years  (R.50/2017).  Mr  Houston's appointment was extended for a further 3-year term by the Chief Minister in April 2020 (R.43/2020).

Responsibility for appointing the Chair of the JCC under Paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014 (the "2014 Law") now rests with the Minister for the Environment.

The Minister intends to extend Mr Houston's appointment for a further 2 years. He is, therefore, providing the States Assembly with two weeks' notice of his intention to extend the Chair's term of office.

The JCC is established under Article 35 of the 2014 Law. The appointment of the Chair of the JCC is provided for under Schedule 2 to the 2014 Law, which states:

Appointment of Chairman of Commission

1. One of the Commissioners shall be the Chairman of the Commission.
2. The 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.

3. The JAC shall oversee the selection.
4. The 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.
5. A person may be appointed under this paragraph more than once.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.

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

3

Matters relating to extension of appointment  

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

The Chief Officer in the Cabinet Office, has confirmed that the performance of the Chair of the Jersey Care Commission has been good, and that the extension of the appointment for a further 2-year term is supported. The extension has been considered and duly noted by the Jersey Appointments Commission.

Financial and resource implications  

The Chairman will be contracted to work 40 days per year at £650 per day. Time spent travelling to and from Jersey is also able to be claimed.

As detailed within P.95/2014, As detailed within P.95/2014 and provided for under the Regulation of Care (Fees) (Jersey) Order 2022, the costs associated with the functioning of the JCC are met partly from fee income.

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

Glenn Houston has been Chair of the Jersey Care Commission since May 2017. During this time, he has led the JCC through its establishment and its continuing expansion from regulating care home and domiciliary care to children's social care and mental health services.

Mr 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 both Director and Chief Executive levels in a number of organisations.

Between  2009  and  2016,  he  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, served as President of that Board in 2015 and worked on projects in The Netherlands, Denmark and Kosovo.

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.

Mr Houston is an Independent Board member and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland. He is also a Board member and Chair

R.34/2023

of the Charitable Trust Funds Committee of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust. Mr Houston served as a Non-Executive Director and Vice Chair of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), between 2017 and 2023.