Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority: appointment of member and Chairman

JERSEY COMPETITION REGULATORY AUTHORITY: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBER AND CHAIRMAN _______________

Lodged au Greffe on 1st May 2001 by the Industries Committee

______________________________

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES GREFFE

180             2 0 0 1    P . 7 3          

Price code: B

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -

  in   a cc o rdance  with  Article  3(1)(a)  of  the  Competition  Regulatory  Authority  (Jersey)  Law  2001,  to  appoint

Dr.  Patrick Anthony McNutt as a member and Chairman of the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority for a period of three years with effect from 17th May 2001.

INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE

REPORT

1. T h e S tates approved the Competition Regulatory Authority (Jersey) Law 2001 last November and it received Royal Assent on 14th March. It came into force on 1st May 2001.
2. U n d e r Article 3(1)(a) it is for the States to appoint one member of the Authority as its Chairman, upon the recommendation of the Industries Committee. Other members of the Authority are then appointed by the Committee, after consultation with the member appointed as Chairman. It is the Committee's intention to appoint two other members at this time, once a chairman is in post.
3. T h e C ommittee enlisted the help of international recruitment consultants, Capita RAS, in order to identify potential candidates for the chairmanship of the Authority (JCRA). The brief was to find a person of some eminence in the field of competition and regulatory policy, with the gravitas and strength of character to carry through difficult decisions and generally to be well able to assert the statutory independence of the new body. Important attributes were also the ability and enthusiasm to make a significant contribution to the emerging debate in the Island on competition policy as well as take a lead on more immediate regulatory issues in the postal and telecoms sectors.
4. A d v e rtisements in the national press and the Economist', together with Capita's own database, yielded a strong field of candidates, mostly from the worlds of economics and law. A selection board was formed, comprising the President of the Committee, Deputy Ozouf - Chairman of its Competition Policy Sub-Committee (formerly called the Regulatory Sub-Committee), the Chief Executive of the Policy and Resources Department and the Economic Adviser from that same Department. It prepared with Capita's assistance a short list of five candidates and interviewed them at the end of March. A second series of meetings was held in Jersey shortly after Easter.
5. T h e Board's unanimous choice from a high quality field was Dr. Patrick McNutt. Dr. McNutt was formerly Professor of Political Economy at the University of Ulster and, from 1995-2000,was the second Chairman of the Irish Competition Authority. He is a leading authority on European competition policy with direct experience of independent regulation of the kind now in the frame for Jersey under the aegis of the JCRA. Following his term of office at the Irish Competition Authority, which expired in 2000, Dr. McNutt has been Partner and Head of Competition in a well-known Irish economics consultancy firm, Indecon International Economic Consultants. A short curriculum vitaefor Dr. McNutt is attached to this report.
6. A s w as explained to States members when the draft Law was brought forward last autumn, the role ofJCRA Chairman was envisaged as a part-time appointment, and it is on this basis that discussions have been held with Dr. McNutt. It is planned that he will devote about two days a week to the task and he will be remunerated on that basis, but there will, of course, be flexibility according to circumstances, and electronic communications now override distance. There will be a full-timememberof the Authority, the Executive Director, based in Jersey, and the third (non-executive) member will also, it is intended, belocally-based.
7. T h e C ommittee is extremely confident that under Dr. McNutt's leadership the JCRA will, inits early years, be in good hands, and that he will make a strong contribution to both policy and practice in important areas of economic strategy that are crucial to the Island's economic success.
8. A s f o r the financial implications of this proposal, the financial implications of establishing the JCRA were dealt with in P.191/2000. It was noted there in particular that the aim was that the JCRA should move towards being self- financed through licence fees. There are no additional financial or manpower implications arising from this report and proposition. The Finance and Economics Committee has since approved a start-up and year 1 budget for the Authority.
9. A cc o r dingly the Industries Committee recommends that the States appoint Dr. McNutt as a member and Chairman of the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority for a period of three years commencing on 17th May 2001.

27th April 2001

CURRICULUM VITAE

Dr. Patrick Anthony McNutt BA, MPhil, DPhil

Current Appointment

• Pa  rtner and Head of Competition, Indecon Consultants, Dublin

Previous appointments

• C h airman, Irish Competition Authority, Dublin, 1996 - 2000

• Pr o fessor of Political Economy, University of Ulster, Belfast, 1994 - 1996

Past appointments

• R e search Assistant, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin

• L e cturer, Department of Economics, University College Galway

• V is iting Scholar, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

• V is iting Scholar, Georgetown University, Washington DC

• V is iting Lecturer, University of Limerick

• C o llege Lecturer, Department of Economics, University College Galway

Other appointments and distinctions

• R a pporteur at Directorate Competition's Advisory Committee, European Commission, Brussels, selected cases 1997 -

1999

• Fo  rmer Member of the Senate of the University of Ulster

• Fo  rmer Chairman of Social Sciences Research Centre, University College Galway

• Fo  rmer Director, Centre for Research in Economics and Law, University College Galway and University of Ulster, Belfast

• Fo  rmer Member, National Committee for Economics and Social Sciences, Royal Irish Academy

• Fo  rmer Member, Committee of the European Public Choice Society

Guest Editorship of journals

• In te  rnational Journal of Social Economics

• E u ropean Business Review

Editorial Advisory Board on journals

• In te  rnational Journal of Social Economics

• Wo   rld Competition

Books/Monographs

• U n derstanding Economic Issues (1985)

• C o mpetition Policy and the 1991 Irish Competition Act (1992)

• Pe  rspectives on Competition Policy Issues: Ireland and the EU (1994)

Books

• T h e Economics of Public Choice (1996)

• T h e Economics of Public Choice Vol.  ll (2001)

• L a w and Economics: European Perspective (2002/3)

Articles and book chapters

• O v er 50 published articles, book chapters and working papers on various aspects of economics and competition policy.