Jersey Appointments Commission - appointment of Chairman and members

STATES OF JERSEY

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JERSEY APPOINTMENTS COMMISSION: APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS

Lodged au Greffe on 24th February 2006 by the Chief Minister

STATES GREFFE

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

in a c cordance with Article  18(1) of the Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005,

which is concerned with the appointment of Commissioners to the Jersey Appointments Commission, to appoint the following as Chairman and members of the Commission and for the terms indicated –

• M  r . Michael Joseph Liston, Chairman, 4 years

• M  r s. Catherine Elizabeth Rees, 4 years

• M  r . Brian Curtis , 3 years

• A  d v ocate Rose Edith Colley, 2 years

• M  r s. Sheila Henwood, 1 year.

CHIEF MINISTER

REPORT

On 28th May 2002 the States, adopting a proposition of the Policy and Resources Committee, approved the constitution and terms of reference of a Jersey Appointments Commission ("Machinery of Government: Establishment of an Appointments Commission", P.52/2002). The principal roles of the Commission were to oversee recruitment within the public service and to ensure that senior appointments to the public service and to autonomous and quasi-autonomous public bodies were properly made. Subsequently, on 26th July 2002 ("Appointments Commission: Appointment of Chairman and Members", P.117/2002) the States approved the appointment of the following people as members of the Commission and for the terms indicated –

• M r . Michael Joseph Liston, Chairman – 4 years

• M r s. Catherine Elizabeth Rees – 4 years

• M r . John Campbell Boothman – 3 years

• A d v ocate Rose Edith Colley – 2 years

• M r s. Sheila Henwood – 1 year

The appointments were made for initial terms of between 1 and 4 years to ensure continuity when the time came for re-appointment.

Since that time, both Mrs.  Henwood and Advocate Rose Colley have had their terms extended to 25th July 2007 and 25th July 2008 respectively. Just recently, Mr.  John Boothman indicated that he would not wish to seek re- appointment. As a consequence, the vacant position was advertised in the Gazette of the Jersey Evening Post and the applicants for the post were considered by an interview panel consisting of the following –

• D  ep u ty M.  Dubras, Chairman of the Human Resources Sub-committee

• M  r . M. Liston, Chairman of the Jersey Appointments Commission

• M  r . I. Crich, Director of Human Resources

The unanimous decision of the panel was to appoint Mr. Brian Curtis to the vacant position.

Under the terms of the recently approved Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005, the States of Jersey agreed to re-constitute the Commission on a formal legal basis: the previous Commission had been constituted by means of an Act of the States. It is, therefore, necessary to approve the membership of the Commission under the terms of that Law. In this connection, it should be noted that a Commissioner cannot serve for more than 8  years and previous service as a Commissioner will be taken into account for these purposes.

As a result and to retain continuity, it is considered that the Commission should be re-constituted on the following basis and for the terms indicated –

• M r . Michael Joseph Liston, Chairman – 4 years

• M r s. Catherine Elizabeth Rees – 4 years

• M r . Brian Curtis – 3 years

• A d v ocate Rose Edith Colley – 2 years

• M r s. Sheila Henwood – 1 year

Further information about the Chairman and members is provided in the Appendix.

All of the above people have significant experience in recruitment and selection, particularly at a senior level, and there is, therefore, no hesitation in commending their appointment to the House.

APPENDIX

Proposed Chairman and members of the Jersey Appointments Commission

Details of those persons who are recommended for appointment to the Commission are as follows – Mr. Michael Joseph Liston

Mr.  Liston is currently Chief Executive of the Jersey Electricity Group. He joined Jersey Electricity in 1986 as Chief Engineer and was subsequently appointed to the position of General Manager before assuming his current role in 1993.

Mr.  Liston has also undertaken a number of other roles outside of his work duties, including Chairman of Le Rocquier School Government Body, Chairman of the Jersey Branch of the Institute of Management and Chairman of the States of Jersey Training and Employment Partnership. He is non-executive Chairman of AIM-listed Renewable Energy Generation Ltd and was appointed Chairman-designate of Jersey Post in November 2005.

Mrs. Catherine Elizabeth Rees

Mrs. Rees' original background was in the human resources function of a number of major United Kingdom companies – in department stores and textiles. She subsequently became Deputy Chief Executive of the United Kingdom's second largest Industrial Training Board. In 1983 Mrs. Rees and her husband started a business in training and recruitment and Mrs. Rees had responsibility for that part of the business which undertook sub- contracting work for training on behalf of the United Kingdom government.

Mrs.  Rees is currently a Commissioner for Income Tax, an independent trustee of C.I.  Traders pension schem and a member of the Court of the University of Liverpool.

Advocate Rose Edith Colley

Advocate Colley has been an Advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey since 2000 and Managing Partner of one of the Island's larger law firms. She has been a member of the Inner London Education Authority, a councillor of the London Borough of Southwark and a parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats.

Mrs. Sheila Henwood

Mrs.  Henwood retired as Chief Executive of the Jersey Tourism Department in 1998, having spent a significant part of her career in the public service in senior management roles, including time within the human resources function.

Since retirement, Mrs.  Henwood has served as a Trustee Board Member of Jersey Heritage Trust and the Jersey Arbitration and Conciliation Service and has chaired a major fund-raising Committee for the Little Sisters of the Poor. Mrs Henwood is currently a Trustee of Beaulieu Convent School and has recently joined the Board of Jersey Hospice.

Mr.  Brian Curtis

Mr.   Curtis has been principally involved in the finance industry and ended his career as the Managing Director of the local Hambros Bank. Since that time he has maintained his links with that industry through a number of appointments. Currently he is non-executive Chairman of Premier Asset Management Ltd., a director of Sector Investment Services Ltd. and a director of a Southern African Bank.

In addition, Mr.   Curtis is currently the Chairman of Community Savings & Credit Ltd and a Trustee of the Community Charitable Trust. He is an accredited interviewer and assessor for the Institute of Directors and has just recently been appointed as a member of the Jersey Police Complaints Authority.