States Members’ Remuneration Review Body: appointment of members.

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES MEMBERS' REMUNERATION REVIEW BODY: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

Lodged au Greffe on 7th October 2008 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to r e fer to their Act dated 13th May 2003 in which they agreed that an independent States Members'

Remuneration Review Body comprising persons who are not members of the States should be established and to appoint the following persons as members of the Body for a period of 3  years –

M r . J u li a n R  ogers (Chairman);

M r . B r i a n B u llock;

M r . M  a u ri c e François Dubras;

A d v o c a te C h ristopher Gerard Pellow Lakeman; M r . J o h n F r e derick Mills C.B.E.

PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE

REPORT

The principle of establishing an independent States Members' Remuneration Review Body was agreed by the States in 2003 and the first members were appointed for an initial period of 2 years in 2004. The Body, as initially constituted, presented 2 reports to the States, the first on remuneration for 2004 (R.52/2004) and the second on remuneration for 2005 to 2008 (R.71/2005). All of the Body's recommendations were implemented without any challenge.

The current terms of reference for the Body are as follows –

To m a ke recommendations to the Privileges and Procedures Committee on any matters relating to the

remuneration, allowances and benefits available to elected members of the States as it considers appropriate, following the holding of public hearings and the receipt of oral and written submissions from any persons, including members of the States, having taken account of any other matters that the Body considers to be relevant, and having taken particular account, but not being bound by, the following matters –

  (i )  th e p rinciple that the level of remuneration available to elected members should be sufficient to ensure

that no person should be precluded from serving as a member of the States by reason of insufficient income and that all elected members should be able to enjoy a reasonable standard of living, so that the broadest spectrum of persons are able to serve as members of the Assembly;

  (ii )  th e economic situation prevailing in Jersey at the time of determination and the budgetary restraints on

the States of Jersey; and

(ii i )  th  e States' inflation target, if any, for the period under review.

As agreed by the States, the Privileges and Procedures Committee must present the Body's recommendations to the States, and these are then implemented by default unless a proposition seeking to challenge them is lodged within one month. This system ensures that, although the Body's recommendations cannot be made binding on members, there is no need for a States' debate unless one is initiated by any States member.

The recommendations for the levels of members' remuneration made in 2005 expire at the end of December 2008 and it is therefore necessary for the Body to be reconstituted to make recommendations for 2009 and beyond.

PPC consulted with the Appointments Commission over the appointments and, although the Commission did not wish to be directly involved, the selection was undertaken through an open and transparent process in accordance with best practice as recommended by the Commission. An advertisement was published for 2  nights in the Jersey Evening Post in late August, and the advertisement was repeated for a further 2  nights in early September as there was only a limited response to the first advertisement  (possibly because  it  was  published during  the  summer  period).  The  Committee  was  pleased  to  receive 5  applications for the 5  places by the extended closing date and considers that the applicants are all eminently suitable to serve on the Body.

Mr. Julian Rogers served as Chairman of the Body as initially constituted, and the Committee is very pleased that he has offered to continue in this rôle. Mr.  Rogers does not work in the public sector and PPC believes that he is ideally suited to the position of Chairman of this independent Body. PPC is pleased that Mr. Brian Bullock, who also served on the Body as initially constituted, is willing to continue as a member as this will provide some continuity.

PPC is conscious that 2 of the nominees, Advocate Christopher Lakeman and Mr.  Maurice Dubras, are both former members of the States but believes that, rather than being a disadvantage, this experience gives them an in-depth insight into the work of a States member that will be invaluable to the Body. In addition, the work that they undertook during their time in the States, as President of PPC and President of the Human Resources Sub-committee respectively, will be particularly relevant for the Body's work.

The fifth nominee, Mr. John Mills, brings a wealth of experience to this rôle, not only as a result of his work as Chief Executive of the former Policy and Resources Committee, but also through his work in the United Kingdom. The former Comptroller of Income Tax served on the Body as initially constituted, and the experience of a former senior civil servant who had worked closely with States members and understood their rôle was particularly valuable to the Body. PPC considers that Mr.  Mills will be able to bring similar experience to the Body.

Brief biographical details of each nominee are given in the Appendix. Financial and manpower implications

The members of the Body work on an honorary basis but are entitled to claim expenses of up to £20 per day spent on this work to cover incidental expenses. This small cost will be met from the PPC budget. Administrative support will be provided by the States Greffe and there are therefore no additional manpower requirements.

APPENDIX

Mr. Julian Rogers (Chairman)

Mr. Rogers is an Oxford graduate, a qualified systems analyst, a qualified lecturer in Further and Higher education, and a holder of an MBA. He has worked in horticulture, manufacturing and aviation in the U.K., before coming to Jersey 25  years ago in connection with the latter. He now runs a small software house which is one of the longest established in the Channel Islands. The software house is fully engaged in the commercial sector and has no involvement with any States Department. Mr.  Rogers served as Chairman of the States Members Remuneration Review Body as originally constituted in 2004.

Mr. Brian Bullock

Mr.  Bullock graduated from King's College London with a degree in Mathematics and Physics, and gained professional educational qualifications the following year at Oxford. Appointments in London and Hertfordshire preceded 4  years in Nassau, Bahamas, where he was Deputy Head and Head of Mathematics in the multi-racial Queen's College, then 4  years at the newly-formed United World College of Southeast Asia in Singapore.

After a few months back in England, he was appointed Deputy Head at the new Le  Rocquier School, before transferring to Hautlieu School as Deputy in 1983. He succeeded Jack Worrall as Head in 1988, a position he held until retirement in 1996. Mr.  Bullock served as a member of the States Members Remuneration Review Body as originally constituted in 2004.

Mr. Maurice Dubras

Mr.  Dubras' initial design and project career was as a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. He moved into supervisory roles and transferred within the company, as a result of specific interest in remuneration issues for engineers and scientists, becoming at one stage a corporate specialist for compensation (pay and benefits) matters. He was involved with the generality of this aspect of employee relations over nearly 20  years, including working with Canadian national bodies. Mr.  Dubras was Deputy of St.  Lawrence from 1996 until he retired from the Assembly in 2005. He was elected as a member of the then Establishment Committee when he joined the States in 1996 and, apart from a 2-year break, he remained involved with human resources issues until his retirement. He was Chairman of the Human Resources Sub-committee of the final Policy and Resources Committee, the forerunner of the present States Employment Board.

Advocate Christopher Lakeman

Advocate Lakeman was educated at Hautlieu School, where he was appointed as Head Boy. He subsequently studied at the Faculté Jean Monnet, l'Université de Paris-Sud, and subsequently obtained a BA (Hons) in English and French Law from the University of Kent at Canterbury. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1991, admitted as an écrivain of the Royal Court in 1994 and called to the Bar of the Royal Court in 1995. He has worked for a number of legal practices in the Island and has been a partner of Sinels since October 2006.

Advocate Lakeman was a Procureur du Bien Public for the Parish of St. Helier and Chairman of the States of Jersey Audit Commission from 1996 to 1999. He was a Senator in the States from 1999 to 2004, and his responsibilities included government reform, reform of the civil status and burial laws, gambling control and Home Affairs. He was President of the Privileges and Procedures Committee which recommended the introduction of payment for States' members. He is currently Chairman of the Jersey Opera House Limited, a Trustee of Beaulieu Convent School Trust, a Governor of Hautlieu School and Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry into Third Party Planning Appeals.

Mr. John Mills

Mr. John Mills was educated at Highgate School and Oxford University and joined the U.K. civil service in 1974. He worked in a number of Departments in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong, and between 1989 and 1992 was a Member of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit at 10  Downing  Street. He was Director of Consumer Affairs, Office of Fair Trading, London from 1992 to 1995, and then Chief Executive of Cornwall County Council from 1995 to 1999. He came to Jersey in 1999 on his appointment as Chief Executive of the Policy and Resources Committee and worked in this role until 2003. From 2003 until his retirement in 2007 he was Director of Rural Policy, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London (Defra). He now lives in St. Saviour .

Mr.  Mills has undertaken a wide range of other roles outside his work career and has been Chairman of the Governing Body of Highgate School since 1999 (a governor since 1993). In this role he is responsible for setting remuneration and conditions of service for the whole senior management team. Since 2007 he has been a Non-Executive Director and, since July 2008, acting Chairman, of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. The Trust is one of the larger acute trusts in England, covering

a population of some 500,000.