Public Employees Contributory Retirement Scheme Committee of Management: membership.

STATES OF JERSEY

PUBLIC EMPLOYEES CONTRIBUTORY RETIREMENT SCHEME COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT: MEMBERSHIP

Lodged au Greffe on 11th May 2010 by the Chief Minister

STATES GREFFE

2010   Price code: B  P.60

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to  approve,  in  accordance  with  Regulation 3  of  the  Public  Employees (Contributory Retirement Scheme) (General) (Jersey) Regulations 1989, the appointment of the following persons to the Committee of Management, for the period ending 31st December 2012, as follows –

Employer Representatives

Mr. S. Laing Mr. J. Mills Mr. S. Warner

Employee Representative Mr. M.A.Q. Richardson.

CHIEF MINISTER

REPORT

The Regulations governing the Committee of Management of the Public Employees' Contributory  Retirement  Scheme  provide  for  the  appointment  of  employer  and employee representatives, who sit in an honorary capacity.

Of the 6 employer representatives, 3 are nominated by the Minister for Treasury and Resources, the remainder by the Chief Minister. With the resignation of Ms Laura Dennis, the Chief Minister, in accordance with Regulation 3(5) of the Regulations, wishes to replace her for the term of office to expire on 31st December 2010.

In previous terms of office, 2 States members were nominated for membership of the Committee of Management; however, the Chief Minister asked the Comptroller and Auditor General for his opinion as to whether it is wise to appoint members of the States Assembly to serve as members of the Committee of Management of PECRS.

In response, the Comptroller and Auditor General published a short report (available on  the  Comptroller  and  Auditor  General's  website),  namely  Public  Employees Contributory Retirement Scheme, Composition of the Committee of Management, 2009.

The report includes the following statement –

"In my view it would be wise to avoid creating that conflict. In other words, it would be wise to regard members of the Assembly as ineligible for nomination as members of the PECRS Committee of Management."

Consequently, the Chief Minister took the decision to no longer nominate members of the States Assembly to the PECRS Committee of Management and has now chosen to replace members of the Assembly with Mr. Scot Laing and Mr. John Mills for the term of office to expire on 31st December 2012.

A similar question was asked of the Comptroller and Auditor General in relation to the Treasurer of the States. His response includes the following statement –

"On this basis, I would be inclined to doubt the wisdom of the Treasurer being a member of the Committee of Management."

The Minister for Treasury and Resources has decided to no longer nominate the Treasurer of the States and has chosen Mr. Steven Warner as the replacement member.

The 6 employee representatives are nominated by the Joint Negotiating Group of the Public Employees Pension Fund. Following the resignation of Mr. John Noel, the Joint Negotiating Group, in accordance with Regulation 3(5) of the Regulations, has chosen Mr. Mark Richardson to replace him for the term of office to expire on 31st December 2010.

Please see the Appendix attached to this report for the relevant background of the nominees.

Membership  remains  the  same  for  previously  nominated  employer  and  employee representatives, but is included below for clarity.

Although the States agreed in principle on 2nd February 2010 to amend the procedure for appointments such as this one so that a debate would no longer be needed, that change  requires  amendments  to  the  Public  Employees  (Contributory  Retirement Scheme)  (General)  (Jersey)  Regulations  1989,  under  which  appointments  to  the Committee of Management are made. Those amendments are currently being drafted, but until they are approved by the States it is necessary for the appointments to be made under the current procedures.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no financial or manpower implications for the States arising from this proposition

APPENDIX

COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT – NOMINEES

Mr. S. Laing

Mr. Laing  has  15 years'  experience  in  the  financial  services  industry,  having graduated (B.A. Hons.) Business Law and Finance) from Strathclyde University in Glasgow. He started his career in the UK working with a small actuarial firm and then the  financial  planning  division  of  a  big  four'  accountancy  firm,  where  he  was involved in working with pension fund trustees to formulate investment strategies. After 4 years in the UK he moved to Jersey, working mainly in private banking, where he was the investment gatekeeper' and Head of the Investment Committee for a local trust company. He also spent 3 years seconded to Qatar, working with investment professionals  within  the  Sovereign  Wealth  Fund  and  local  pensions  authority  to formulate investment plans.

In the last 2 years, he has been primarily engaged with local trust companies across Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man, developing investment business through conducting regular market update presentations and improving trustee awareness of investment issues and the potential solutions.

He  is  a  member  of  UKSIP,  and  holds  the  Investment  Management  Certificate, Financial Planning Certificate and the Advanced Taxation of Trusts qualification.

Mr. J. Mills

Mr. Mills'  33 year  public  service  career,  until  his  retirement  in  2007,  included appointments as Director of Rural Policy at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; as Chief Executive, Policy and Resources, States of Jersey; and as Chief Executive of Cornwall County Council. Earlier in his career his roles in the UK Home Civil Service included Director of Consumer Affairs at the Office of Fair Trading and a 3 year spell as a member of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit, serving under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major. He also spent 5 years in the 1980s on secondment to the Government of Hong Kong.

Mr. Mills was appointed last year as a Commissioner of the Jersey Financial Services Commission. He is also an Income Tax Commissioner of Appeal and a member of the States Members' Remuneration Review Body. Among other non-executive roles, he is Vice-Chairman  of  the  Port  of  London  Authority  and  a  Board  member  of  the Commission for Rural Communities.

He studied at the University of Oxford, where he took first class honours in Modern History in 1971, subsequently being elected as Domus Senior Scholar at Merton College.

Mr. S. Warner

Dip PFS ASI – Managing Director and MLRO.

Mr. Warner has 20 years' experience working in both the UK and Channel Islands financial services industries. Having completed his initial training working with a number of independent financial services organisations in the UK, he joined a firm of accountants  where  he  helped  develop  their  investment  and  tax  planning  services before moving to National Westminster Bank Financial Planning Services.

He moved to Jersey in 1994 to join Shepherd Insurance Brokers, where he specialised in corporate financial services including employee benefits and occupational pension schemes and was appointed a Director of the Company in 1998. He was instrumental in  Shepherds  being  the  first  Independent  Financial  Adviser  to  secure  JFSC authorisation to act as Pension Drawdown Manager and is recognised by the Regulator and Comptroller of Income Tax as a leading practitioner in this specialist area.

Following  the  acquisition  of  Shepherds  by  Alexander  Forbes,  Mr. Warner  was appointed a Director and Head of Financial Services in Jersey before resigning to join Rossborough Financial Services Limited in 2005.

He is a Member of the Personal Financial Planning Society and holds the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate, including the specialist G60 Pensions qualification. He is also a founder member of the Jersey Association of Pension Fund Trustees.

He was also a member of the working party set up to review and advise the States on changes to Jersey's pensions legislation.

Mr. M.A.Q. Richardson

Mr. Richardson  was  born  in  Jersey  and  educated  at  Plat  Douet  School,  Victoria College Prep. and Victoria College. He has a B.A. degree from the University of Reading and a Masters degree from the University of Warwick. He also studied at University College London.

A Policy Principal in the Social Security Department, Mr. Richardson returned to Jersey in 2007 after working in the UK for 18 years. He worked in London for Incomes  Data  Services  (IDS)  an  independent  research  organisation  providing information  and  analysis  on  pay,  HR  policy  and  practice,  employment  law  and pensions. When he left IDS to return to Jersey he was editor of IDS HR Studies.

At  IDS  he  was  an  employee  trustee  of  the  pension  scheme;  and  following  the acquisition of the company by the Thomson Corporation (now Thomson Reuters) he was a member-nominated director of the Thomson Pension Trust. Mr. Richardson is on the executive of the Jersey Civil Service Association branch of Prospect and is a member of the Public Employees Pension Scheme (PECRS) Joint Negotiating Group.