Privileges and Procedures Committee 17th August 2015

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PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (14th Meeting)

17th August 2015

(Business conducted via electronic mail) PART A

All members were present.

Connétable L. Norman of St. Clement , Chairman Senator P.F.C. Ozouf

Connétable D.W. Mezbourian of St. Lawrence Connétable C.H. Taylor of St. John

Deputy J.A. Martin of St. Helier

Deputy S.Y. Mézec of St. Helier

Deputy S.M. Brée of St. Clement

In attendance -

M.N. de la Haye O.B.E., Greffier of the States Note: The Minutes of this meeting comprise Part A only.

Appointment A1. The Committee received a draft proposition asking the States to consent to the of Greffier of appointment of Dr. Mark Egan as Greffier of the States for a period of 5 years in the States replacement of the current officeholder Mr. Michael Nelson de la Haye O.B.E. 1240(163)

The Committee recalled that Mr. de la Haye had resigned from his position in March 2015 and that he would leave office on 18th December 2015. The Committee was informed that the process to identify a suitable successor had been initiated by the Bailiff in consultation with the Chair of the Jersey Appointments Commission and a representative from the Human Resources Department. They had taken the decision to publicize the vacancy both in Jersey and in the United Kingdom and the advertisement had been published in the Jersey Evening Post and circulated to the parliaments and assemblies in the United Kingdom and other Crown Dependencies. 16 applications had been received, 8 from locally-qualified candidates and 8 from off-island applicants. A shortlisting panel had been established, chaired by the Bailiff , and comprising the Chairman of PPC, the Chairman of the Jersey Appointments Commission, the Clerk of Tynwald and the Director of Employee Relations and Organizational Development, Human Resources Department. 5 candidates had been shortlisted for interview, one who was locally-qualified and 4 who were from outside the Island.

The Committee noted that interviews had been conducted by the same panel that had undertaken the shortlisting process with the exception of the Chairman of the Jersey Appointments Commission who was replaced by Louise Read from the Commission. The interviews were conducted over 2 days in late July and early August and at the conclusion of the interviews the panel had agreed that Dr. Mark Egan should be recommended for appointment. Dr. Egan was currently a Deputy Principal Clerk at the House of Commons where he had been employed since 1997. Dr. Egan had a wide range of experience at Westminster and his recent roles included being Deputy Head

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of the Table Office and Fast Stream Talent Manager. He had also led a team preparing for the creation of a new Parliamentary Digital Service.

The Committee was informed that Dr. Egan had made it clear during and after the interviews that he hoped to be able to return to Westminster in due course and that he was therefore willing to accept the appointment on a 5 year fixed contract basis. He would be granted licensed' status as an essential employee under the provisions of the Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law 2012.

The Committee recognized that in accordance with Article 41(3) of the States of Jersey Law 2005 the Greffier of the States was appointed by the Bailiff with the consent of the States and that the Committee's role in considering the draft proposition was therefore effectively no more than to agree to lodge for debate the recommendation of the selection panel to enable the States to decide whether they consented to the appointment. Some members of the committee expressed disappointment that the selection panel had not been able to recommend a locally- qualified applicant but recognized that the final decision on whether Dr. Egan should be appointed was for the Assembly as a whole. It was noted that Dr. Egan had offered to come to Jersey to meet all States members before the debate and the Committee agreed that it was important that arrangements were made for him to do this as it would be inappropriate to expect members to vote for someone they had never met.

The Committee approved the draft proposition and agreed that it should be lodged au Greffe' for debate on 22nd September 2015. Deputy S.Y. Mézec stated that, although he agreed that the proposition should be lodged, he reserved the right to decide how he would vote until he had met Dr. Egan. Deputy S.M. Brée asked that his dissent be recorded as he did not consider that a person with a UK parliamentary background would have the requisite knowledge of Jersey to be suitable for appointment.

The Greffier of the States was requested to take the necessary action.