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STATES OF JERSEY
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FISCAL POLICY PANEL: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS
Lodged au Greffe on 11th September 2007 by the Minister for Treasury and Resources
STATES GREFFE
PROPOSITION
THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion
to r ef er to their Act dated 5th December 2006 in which they agreed to establish a Stabilisation Fund and
further agreed to the establishment of a new independent Fiscal Policy Panel and –
to a p p o i n t M r. Christopher Allsopp CBE, Ms. Marian Bell CBE and Mr. Joly Dixon CMG as
members of the Fiscal Policy Panel for a period of 3 years.
MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND RESOURCES
REPORT
Background
P.133/2006 set out that the Fiscal Policy Panel would be established as part of a new Fiscal Framework. The objectives are that the Framework will lead to a more transparent and credible process for making tax and spending decisions in the Island. It will also help ensure that fiscal policy is set to be more countercyclical and therefore maximise the economic potential of the Island, with particular focus on meeting the States inflation target.
The Framework incorporates the Stabilisation Fund, with the Minister for Treasury and Resources being responsible for its operation but having regard to the advice of a new independent Fiscal Policy Panel (FPP). It was agreed that the FPP will be made up of leading independent economists that can bring together the right mix of experience and skills. The role of the FPP is to publish an annual report in September each year for the Minister for Treasury and Resources that –
Examines the strength of the Jersey economy, the position in the economic cycle and the outlook for the Jersey/world economies.
Comments on the appropriateness of the States financial position/forecasts given the above.
Recommends policy regarding the Stabilisation Fund and whether economic conditions justify payments to or from the Fund and gives guidance on their size.
Considers if payments are to be made what would be the best way to achieve them.
Outlines when the Stabilisation Fund may be at sufficient levels and therefore when payments should be made into the Strategic Reserve.
Appointment process
As set out in P.133/2006 the States Economic Adviser was responsible for organising the appointment process and making a recommendation to the Minister for Treasury and Resources.
The process adopted was agreed and overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission and included advertising nationally in the Economist magazine.
Five candidates were selected for interview on 22nd and 29th August and were interviewed by a panel consisting of –
• Mike Liston – Chairman, Jersey Appointments Commission
• Ian Crich – Director of Human Resources, and Executive Officer to the Appointments Commission
• Mike King – Chief Executive, Economic Development
• Dougie Peedle – States Economic Adviser.
The interview panel was unanimous in its recommendation to the Minister that the following 3 candidates had the most appropriate skills and experience and should be appointed to the Fiscal Policy Panel –
- Christopher Allsopp CBE
- Marian Bell CBE
- Joly Dixon CMG.
The interview panel also recommended that Joly Dixon should act as Chair of the FPP.
Financial and manpower implications
There are no additional resource implications arising from these proposals, as the salary and running costs of the FPP are to be met from the existing budgets of the Treasury and Resources and Chief Minister's Departments.
BIOGRAPHIES OF SELECTED CANDIDATES
Christopher Allsopp CBE
Director, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
Christopher Allsopp is a Fellow of New College and Reader in Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. He has recently completed a Review of Statistics for Economic Policymaking (the Allsopp Review'). He is a former Member of the Monetary Policy Committee (2000–2003) and of the Court of Directors of the Bank of England (1997–2000). He is the Editor of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy and a Director of Oxford Economic Forecasting. Previous activities include working at H.M. Treasury, the OECD and the Bank of England (where he was Adviser from 1980–83) as well as extensive involvement with domestic and international policy issues as consultant to international institutions and private sector organisations. He has published extensively on monetary, fiscal and exchange rate issues as well as the problems of economic reform and transition.
Marian Bell CBE
From June 2002 to June 2005, Marian Bell was an external Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, to set interest rates to meet the U.K. Government's inflation target. Prior to that, Marian held posts at The Royal Bank of Scotland where, inter alia, she set up and managed the successful Treasury and Capital Markets Research function, covering interest rate, fixed income and currency markets for the major economies and at H.M. Treasury where she worked on modelling and forecasting the U.K. economy for fiscal policy purposes. She set up alpha economics in September 2000 to undertake independent research and consultancy. Marian has degrees from the Universities of Oxford and London. Marian was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to macroeconomic policy and economics.
Joly Dixon CMG
Joly Dixon spent nearly 30 years at the European Commission, holding a variety of senior posts. He was Director for International Economic Affairs in the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs from 1992 to 2003, dealing primarily with enlargement and transition economy issues as well as representing the Commission in a number of international economic groups. For the previous 5½ years he was a member of the cabinet of President Jacques Delors, concentrating on economic and monetary issues.
From mid-1999 to September 2000, he was appointed the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General in the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), where he headed the European Union's part of the mission, which was in charge of economic reconstruction. He has also worked extensively on taxation reform in Bosnia, where until recently he was Chairman of the Indirect Tax Authority.
He is a member of the U.K. Statistics Commission and a fellow of the Royal Statistics Society.
His career began as a lecturer in economic statistics and econometrics at the universities of York and Exeter.