Statistics Council: appointment of Members

STATES OF JERSEY

STATISTICS COUNCIL: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

Presented to the States on 10th June 2025 by the Chief Minister

STATES GREFFE

2025  R.90

REPORT

Introduction  

The Chief Minister is presenting this Report to the States Assembly, giving 2 weeks' notice of his proposed intention to eight members to the new Statistics Council. This follows the appointment of Ms Kathryn (Kate) Chamberlain as Chair of the Statistics Council in May 2025 (R.54/2025).

The Chief Minister proposes to appoint the following as members:

Beverley Bissett Greg Boyd Siobhan Carey Rebecca Millar Duncan Millar d Murray Norton Anya van Heerden Mark Pragnell

The Statistics Council is established under Article 7C and Schedule 2 of the Statistics and Census (Jersey) Law 2018 (the "2018 Law"), as amended by the Statistics and Census (Jersey) Amendment Law 2025 which came into force on 21 February 2025. Article 7C states –

"7C Establishment and meetings of Statistics Council

1. There is established a body known as the Statistics Council, consisting of a Chair and no fewer than 6 and no more than 10 other individuals appointed by the Minister.
2. The individuals must, as far as reasonably practicable, reflect a range of users of statistics in Jersey, including the public, the media, researchers, students,  businesses,  public  authorities  and  non-governmental organisations.
3. The Chair presides over all meetings of the Statistics Council but in the absence of the Chair another member may preside.
4. The Chief Statistician must attend each meeting of the Statistics Council at which it takes decisions in relation to any of its statutory functions (a "formal meeting"), but in an advisory capacity only.
5. The Statistics Council must hold formal meetings at least 3 times each calendar year.
6. Subject to this Article, Article 7D and the Rules of Conduct issued under it, the Statistics Council may determine its own procedure, including when and how frequently it meets.
7. The Statistics Council may meet informally without the Chief Statistician being present, but it must not make any decisions that are required to be made at a formal meeting.
8. The Statistics Council must publish in a manner agreed by the Council the minutes of its formal meetings, including a record of decisions taken in

relation to its statutory functions, as soon as reasonably practicable after the meeting in question has taken place.

9. Schedule 2 makes further provision with respect to the membership of the Statistics Council and may be amended by Regulations made by the States to make different provision in that respect."

Paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the 2018 Law provides that –

2 Appointment and dismissal

1. Members of the Statistics Council –

1. hold office for a term of 3 years, and on expiry of their term are eligible  for  re-appointment,  subject  to  serving  a  maximum  of 3 terms;
2. hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms and conditions of their appointment as determined by the Minister.

2. Before  making  an  appointment  the  Minister  must  consult  the  Jersey Appointments Commission.
3. Article 2 of the Appointment Procedures Law applies to the appointment of Statistics Council members.

Background to the Statistics Council  

Amendments  to  the  2018  Law,  which  were  adopted  by  the  States  Assembly  in September 2024, have created the new Statistics Council, in line with international guidance, to replace the Statistics Users' Group.

Article 7E(1) provides that the Statistics Council is independent of the Chief Minister and that it "has the primary function of overseeing the Jersey Statistical System by:

1. advising  public  authorities  on  the  production,  use,  quality,  relevance  and integrity of the statistics they produce that describe, on a representative basis, the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation in Jersey; and
2. advising generally in relation to tier 1 statistics."

The  Statistics  Council  has  further  specific  responsibilities  under  the  2018  Law, including:

• advising the Chief Minister on the appointment of the Chief Statistician and being informed of their suspension or dismissal as soon as is appropriate (Schedule 1);

• advising the Chief Statistician on their annual report, the plan for Statistics Jersey and the strategy for the JSS (Article 7(4));

• presenting recommendations to the Chief Statistician, the Chief Minister and the States Assembly on statistics produced by the JSS as the Council sees fit (Article 7E(2)(a));

• raising  concerns  and  issuing  public  comment  on  any  statistics  which  are produced by public authorities and which describe on a representative basis the economic,  demographic,  social  and  environmental  phenomena  of  Jersey (Article 7E(2)(a));

• advising the States Assembly where it has concerns in relation to the funding, resources or independence of the Office of the Chief Statistician or the JSS (Article 7F(3)(a));

• advising the Chief Statistician on the contents of and any revisions to the Code of Practice (Article 7I(2));

• advising the Chief Statistician and Chief Minister when the Council believes that independent expert reviews of tier 1 statistics are required (Article 7I(8) and (9));

• nominating statistics to be tier 1 statistics and advising the Chief Statistician on the contents of the list of tier 1 statistics (Article 7J(1) and (2));

• advising the Chief Statistician on the process for suspending statistical reports from the list of tier 1 statistics (Article 7J(6));

• advising the Chief Statistician on the programme of and criteria for reviews of tier 1 statistics (Article 7J(9)); and

• advising the Chief Minister on whether statistical reports should be removed from the list of tier 1 statistics (Article 7K(2)).

Matters relating to the appointment  

The Statistics Council is a new body with enhanced responsibilities under the 2018 Law compared with those of the previous Statistics Users' Group. On the advice of the Jersey Appointments Commission (JAC), it has, therefore, been necessary to recruit a new Chair and members of the Council.

In accordance with the requirements of the 2018 Law, the selection process for the new Chair was overseen by the JAC. The JAC were also consulted on the recruitment process for Council members.

Financial and resource implications  

Members of the Statistics Council will be paid an annual fee of £500. They will each serve an initial three-year term. Time spent travelling to and from Jersey is also able to be claimed by those members who live off-Island. However, those members will participate in most Council meetings remotely.  

Short biographies of proposed new members Beverley Bissett

Beverley Bissett is an experienced Informatics leader, passionate about bringing data to life – telling the story and allowing actions to be identified and evaluated. She moved to Jersey in 2015 to head the Informatics Team in Health & Care Jersey, building the team  from  scratch,  growing  and  developing  the  analysts  and  the  methodologies, ensuring the use of data appropriately and for the benefit of the population. Many staff from the Health team have subsequently gone on to other roles in data teams across Government of Jersey, thus changing the data landscape significantly. Her leadership was recognised by the Bailiff of Jersey with an award for an exceptional contribution to the Island Community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beverley's previous roles include managing and developing teams in NHS Provider and Commissioning organisations and management consultancy as well as being a Research Officer at the UK Office for National Statistics. She has a MA in Psychology and a MSc in Public Health, along with a CMI qualification in Strategic Management and Leadership. She is an active volunteer with Girlguiding Jersey and Jersey Heritage.

Greg Boyd

Greg Boyd is a professional economist with 20 years of experience delivering data- driven, evidence-based analysis across the public and private sectors. He is currently a Senior Economist at Price waterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the UK.

Greg previously held economist roles in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Government of Jersey. He is an experienced user of official statistics from the UK, Jersey, and internationally. His career has focused on analysing and integrating diverse datasetssuch as economic, social, and demographic statisticsto inform evidence- based public policy across a wide range of issues.

Greg holds a degree in economics from Queen's University Belfast and a master's degree in economics from Jönköping International Business School in Sweden.

Siobhan Carey

Siobhan Carey is a career analyst with experience within social research and official statistics gained in 3 statistical agencies and in 2 UK policy departments. She retired as Chief Executive and Registrar General of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in 2023 having previously served as Assistant Secretary in the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Ireland and in several Senior Civil Service roles in UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). She served as Chief Statistician in the Department for International Development and in the Department for Business, Energy and Skills in the UK, both with extensive and varied policy remit and wide-ranging statistical outputs.

She has worked across many disciplines covering international, social, economic, business and demographic statistics including the decennial population census. While

her experience is broad covering a lot of domains her main research interests are in household survey methods and practice and in quality improvement methods. She has extensive C suite experience on all aspects of corporate governance and accounting.

She is currently a member of the ESRC Survey Futures Advisory Board. Rebecca Millar

Rebecca   Millar  was  born  and  raised  in  Jersey.  After  a  career  in  the  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) she returned to the Island in 2018 where she worked in the Islands' External Relations Department and as Head of Local Economy during the COVID pandemic.

She was appointed Director of Channel Islands Brussels Office in July 2022 where she provides strategic direction and guidance to the Channel Islands' relationship with the European Union, ensuring delivery for the Islands in the areas of policy interest, whilst raising the profile and understanding of the Islands within the EU.

Duncan Millar d

Duncan Millar d is an experienced leader with 30 years as an analyst and policy advisor, including  15  years  in  senior  leadership  roles  in  national  and  international administrations and 5 years as an independent energy and statistics advisor. The ability to plan and deliver the wider needs of organisations, supported by strong analytical and communication skills and a commitment to capacity building at the organisational and individual level. A background in climate and energy, including SDGs and NDCs and a strong record of delivering advice to inform and monitor policies and decisions. Extensive  international  experience,  leading  work  to  developing  country  energy statistical systems across Africa as well as India, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Mexico, across Europe, Central and SE Asia. He has a strong commitment to training and capacity building and led training in over 30 countries across all parts of the world.

Duncan now works as an independent international statistical and energy advisor using his experience to help countries and organisations build capacity and capability. His work focusses on helping countries and organisations to develop statistics, their use in policy making and monitoring, enhancing the quality of statistics, building collaboration and cooperation between ministries and building both team and individual capability and knowledge-based confidence.

Murray Norton

Murray Norton is Chief Executive of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce. In this role, effective engagement and negotiation are part of Murray's remit to promote trade, influence legislation and increase prosperity for members for the benefit of the Island.

Murray previously served as Deputy for St Brelade and Assistant Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture from 2014 - 2018. He was also responsible for Trading Standards and Consumer Affairs and the Channel Island Lottery, as well as

sitting on the panel for the Housing and Work Advisory Group and the States of Jersey Privileges and Procedures Committee. Murray is a former business owner of retail businesses and restaurants, a BBC presenter for 22 years, including 10 years presenting TV programmes in the USA and across Europe

Murray has a prolific record of over 40 years of fund raising for local charities that runs into several millions of pounds and is the regular host of many of the major functions and events in Jersey including the Jersey Air Display and Liberation Day.

Anya van Heerden (née Hoogkamer)

Anya van Heerden is a Senior Data Solutions Consultant with extensive experience in data analytics, risk management, and business intelligence across both the public and private sectors. She holds a master's degree in applied mathematics and became a member of the Statistics Users' Group in 2023, reflecting her ongoing commitment to the advancement and ethical use of statistics in decision-making.

She has a strong track record of delivering strategic data initiatives, improving data governance, and supporting evidence-based policy through analytical insight. Anya is passionate about promoting transparency, statistical quality, and the responsible use of data to inform decisions that benefit the wider community. As a member of the Jersey Statistics  Council,  she  looks  forward  to  contributing  her  expertise  to  support  the effective use and communication of statistics across the island.

Mark Pragnell

Mark Pragnell is managing director of Pragmatix Advisory, a boutique economics, strategy and policy consultancy. He has over 30 years' experience as a macroeconomist, forecaster and policy consultant, and is an intensive user of official socioeconomic data from across the globe.

Prior to founding Pragmatix Advisory, Mark held leadership roles in respected London- based macroeconomics consultancies, Capital Economics and Centre for Economics and Business Research, as well as in local government, the Consumers' Association and the rail industry.

He has worked with a number of island jurisdiction governments, promotional bodies and businesses, starting in 2003 when he helped the Isle of Man government develop their first economic strategy. He has led seminal research to explain and quantify the value of international finance centres, including the 2013 Jersey's value to Britain report for Jersey Finance and subsequent European and African versions and their updates. He has subsequently worked on numerous assignments for public and private sector clients in  the  Crown  Dependencies  and  Overseas  Territories,  including  Jersey  Finance, Government of Jersey and Jersey Community Relations Trust.

At Pragmatix Advisory, Mark has actively developed a focus on island and rural economies.  He  is  also  chair  of  English  Rural  Housing  Association,  chair  of  the Independent Commission on the Future of Brandon, a rural market town in Suffolk, and

until recently independent governor of Writtle University College, Essex's land-based higher education institution.