Bus Service Tendering Process - Committee of Inquiry - membership

STATES OF JERSEY

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BUS SERVICE TENDERING PROCESS: COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY – MEMBERSHIP

Lodged au Greffe on 28th September 2004 by the Policy and Resources Committee

STATES GREFFE

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

t o re fer to their Act dated 9th March 2004 in which they agreed to approve the appointment of a

Committee of Inquiry to investigate fully the relevant circumstances surrounding the tender process and the award of the contract for the provision of a bus service in Jersey and –

(a ) to appoint the following persons as members of the Committee of Inquiry –

(i ) M r . H uw Owen John Richard Shepheard (President)

(i i) M r . Trevor Peter Garrett

(i ii ) M r . Christopher John Blackstone

(b ) to agree, in accordance with Article 36B(2) of the States of Jersey Law 1966, as amended – (i ) t h at Mr. Garrett shall, if required, preside in the absence of the President; and

(i i) t h a t the quorum of the Committee shall be 2.

POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Notes: The Finance and Economics Committee will allocate a budget of up to £78,000 from the General Reserve

for this Committee of Inquiry should the States approve the proposition.

REPORT

On 9th March 2004 the States approved a proposition of the Policy and Resources Committee entitled "Bus Service Tendering Process: Committee of Inquiry" (P.31/2004), and decided that a Committee of Inquiry should be appointed to investigate fully the circumstances surrounding the tender process and award of the contract for the provision of a bus service in Jersey. The States also agreed that the Policy and Resources Committee should report back to the Assembly with recommendations for the constitution and terms of reference of the Committee of Inquiry.

Terms of reference for the Committee of Inquiry were approved by the States on 30th June 2004 ("Bus Service Tendering Process: Committee of Inquiry – terms of reference and membership", P.99/2004, as amended), and a copy of these terms of reference is attached as an Appendix for information. On the same occasion, the States adopted an amendment of Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier and agreed that "the Chairman and members of the Committee of Inquiry shall not be remunerated for their services".

An advertisement for a President and members of the Committee of Inquiry was subsequently placed in the Gazette section of the Jersey Evening Post, and a total of 8 applications were received. The Policy and Resources Committee was pleased with the quality of applications received, and it would like to nominate the following persons as the President and members of the Committee of Inquiry –

• M  r . Huw Owen John Richard Shepheard (President)

• M  r . Trevor Peter Garrett

• M  r . Christopher John Blackstone

Mr. Shepheard is a barrister of 22 years standing, and for the first 15 years of his career he was employed in the U.K. public sector, firstly as a Magistrate's Clerk and then as a litigation lawyer for central government. Mr. Shepheard has lived in Jersey for the last 7 years, and during this period he has worked in the finance industry in legal/compliance roles. He now works as a self-employed consultant, advising on compliance and compliance- related matters. In addition, he has been a Centenier in the Grouville Honorary Police for the last 4 years, having previously served for 2 years as a Constable's Officer.

Mr. Garrett was born and educated in Jersey, and served in the States of Jersey Police for 34 years before retiring in 2002. During his career Mr. Garrett carried out a wide range of policing roles, serving as a Police Constable, Sergeant and Inspector before being promoted to the rank of Superintendent. As a Superintendent Mr. Garrett initially worked as the head of Crime Services, and was subsequently made responsible for all aspects of operational policing.

Mr. Blackstone is a chartered accountant, and during his career he worked in a variety of financial and management roles. Mr. Blackstone moved to Jersey in 1984, and for several years he worked as a partner in Coopers & Lybrand, with responsibility for the trust administration group. Since taking retirement Mr. Blackstone has pursued a number of interests, including woodworking and history, and he has also served for a period on the Audit Committee of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department.

Financial and manpower implications

The States has already decided, in adopting Deputy Le Hérissier's amendment to P.99/2004, that "a sum of no more than £50,000 be made available to the Committee of Inquiry to enable it to fund the provision of expert advice if required".

In addition, the Committee of Inquiry will need proper executive and administrative support, and this will entail the temporary appointment or secondment of an officer to the States Greffe for the duration of the inquiry. Following consultation with the States Greffe and the States Treasury, it is estimated that up to £23,000 will be needed for this purpose, together with up to £5,000 to cover administration costs.

APPENDIX

Bus Service Tendering Process: Committee of Inquiry – Terms of Reference (as adopted by the States on 29th June 2004)

1. T o review how the then Public ServicesCommittee, in accordance with the decisionof the States of 31st July 2001when adopting the Bus Strategy(P.104/2001 as amended),undertookthenecessary review of the Motor Traffic (Jersey)Law 1935, asamended,toenabletheBusStrategyto be progressed.
2. T o review theagreementmadebetween the States of Jersey and theTransportand General Workers Union on 5th August 2001 to ensure that intheeventof a new operatorbeingappointed,allstaff transferring employmentwouldbegiven the sameterms and conditions ofemployment as they enjoyed with the previous operator.TheCommitteeofInquiry will identify:

(a ) A n y variance from that agreement;

(b ) T h e reason and justification for the variance;

(c ) T h e audit trail for and changes to the agreement to identify the communication process between

Jersey Bus, the Transport and General Workers Union, the Public Services Committee and the new operator.

3. T o establish the state of knowledgeof the parties involved during the tender process for the public bus service, during theperiod leading up to the awardof the contracton 1st May 2002, in relation to the wage claim submitted by the Transport and General WorkersUnionwhich included the drivers shift allowance, and to reporton the actions ofthe parties involved in that process.
4. T o considerany changes madeto the final contractsigned between the States ofJersey and Connex Transport Jersey Limited and report on whether there are anymaterial differences between the final contract and the draft contractsupplied to all tenderers during the tender process that might have affected the tendersubmissions.
5. T o review and reporton the drivers shiftallowance and the relief service claims submittedbyConnex Transport Jersey Limited in 2002 anddeterminewhether given thestateofknowledgeof all parties during the negotiations, the payment for the shift allowance was appropriate and in line with the conditions of contract that existbetween the Statesof Jersey and ConnexTransportJerseyLimited.
6. T o review the accuracy of the reports submitted by officers to the PublicServices Committee regarding the contract with ConnexTransportJersey Limited, together with the relevant minutesofCommittee meetings, duringthe period leading up to the award of the contract,andinrelationtothepost-contract awardof the shift allowance, aswellasto review the answers to questions about the contract that were given tothe States.
7. T o report back totheStates with its findings and recommendations.