States of Jersey Complaints Panel: appointment of members.

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES OF JERSEY COMPLAINTS PANEL: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

Lodged au Greffe on 19th June 2012

by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

2012   Price code: B  P.64

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

in  accordance  with  Article 5(2)  of  the  Administrative  Decisions  (Review) (Jersey) Law 1982, to appoint the following persons as members of the States of Jersey Complaints Panel, from whom members of Complaints Boards can be drawn, for the following periods –

Chairman

Advocate Richard John Renouf (3 years) Deputy Chairmen

Mr. Nigel Peter Edgar Le Gresley (3 years) Miss Christine Vibert (18 months)

Members

Mr. John Geoffrey Davies (12 months) Mr. Christopher Beirne (3 years)

Mr. Robert Frederick Bonney (3 years) Mr. Frank Dearie (3 years)

Mr. Stephen William Platt (3 years)

Mr. John Frederick Mills C.B.E. (3 years) Mr. Graeme George Marett (3 years)

Mr. Patrick David McGrath (3 years)

PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE

REPORT

The Complaints Panel system

The Complaints Panel is established under the Administrative Decisions (Review) (Jersey) Law 1982, and it enables any person who is aggrieved by a decision made by a Minister or department, or any person acting on behalf of any such Minister or department, to apply to the Greffier of the States to have the matter reviewed by a Complaints Board. Once a complaint is received, the Greffier seeks the response of the Minister or department concerned before referring the papers to the Chairman of the Complaints Panel who decides whether or not the circumstances justify review by a Complaints  Board.  If  the  Chairman  is  conflicted,  then  the  matter  is  referred  for adjudication by one of the Deputy Chairmen. If the Chairman or Deputy Chairman considers that the circumstances justify a Board, before holding a hearing, they may first attempt informal resolution of the complaint, but if this is not appropriate or has failed, the matter is then referred to a Board and a hearing date is normally set for 6 weeks  later.  A  Board  of  3  members  selected  from  the  Complaints  Panel  is established to deal with the case. If the Board finds in favour of the complainant it can request the Minister or department concerned to reconsider the decision. Article 5(2) of the Law requires the States to appoint the members of the Complaints Panel.

The term of office of the Chairman and some of the current members of the Panel expired in June 2012 and that of the remaining 4 members expires in July 2012. The Privilege and Procedures Committee initiated the process for the appointment of a new Chairman and members, with the involvement of the Appointments Commission as required, some weeks ago.

Although 4 members of the current Panel are stepping down at the end of their term of office, the Committee is pleased that one of the current Deputy Chairmen has been selected to serve as Chairman, another long serving and therefore experienced member has come forward to serve as one of the Deputy Chairmen and 5 members are willing to serve for a further term. Although the Committee considers that it is important to appoint new members, it is also vital to maintain some continuity and experience and, with the agreement of the Appointments Commission, the Committee is pleased to be able to nominate them for re-appointment.

Section 4.13 of the Appointments Commission's Code of Practice, recommends that the term of office of a member of a public body should not exceed 10 years, although in some circumstances this limit can be extended. The Appointments Commission was mindful of the need for continuity following the retirement of the Chairman, and therefore agreed that the term of office for Miss Vibert could be extended for a period of 18 months and for Mr. (John) Geoffrey Davies for 12 months, in order to enable newer  Panel  members  to  gain  more  experience  before  being  considered  for  the position of Deputy Chairman.

The Committee is extremely grateful to the members who give many hours of their time on a totally honorary basis in relation to the work of the Panel, and very pleased that they have offered to serve for a further 3 years. Brief biographical details of each nominee are set out in the Appendix.

The Committee would like to pay particular tribute to Mrs. Carol Canavan, who is retiring from the Panel after 15 years service (9 of which as Chairman), Mr. David Watkins, who has served for 15 years and also to Mrs. Mary Le Gresley and Mr. Tom

Perchard, who both have completed 12 years as members of the Panel. The Committee recognises that they are extremely busy people in their own right and have generously given their time freely to serve the community, for which the Committee is very grateful.

The selection process

The process to select a new Chairman and additional members for the Complaints Panel  was  managed  under  the  supervision  of  a  member  of  the  Appointments Commission, Mr. Brian Curtis MBE. The process was undertaken in an open and transparent way as required by the Codes drawn up by the Appointments Commission. An  advertisement  was  placed  in  the  Jersey  Evening  Post  seeking  expressions  of interest in the position, and 5 responses were received. The expressions of interest were considered by a selection panel consisting of Mr. Curtis and the Greffier of the States. The skills and experience of the candidates were assessed alongside other criteria such as their availability for this work. Given his 9 years service as Deputy Chairman, it was agreed that Advocate Richard John Renouf would be eminently suitable for the position of Chairman and he was duly selected as Chairman designate. The other 4 applicants were shortlisted for interview, with consideration being given for  the  role  of   Deputy  Chairman  also.  The  interviews  were  then  conducted  by Mr. Curtis , Advocate Renouf and the Greffier of the States. Miss Christine Vibert demonstrated the skills necessary to serve as Deputy Chairman, having served on the Panel as a valued and experienced member for several years.

All of the remaining 3 candidates were considered by the interview panel to have the necessary  skills  and  experience  and  the  Privileges  and  Procedures  Committee  is pleased to nominate them for appointment on the recommendation of the interview panel. The Committee believes that the 3 nominees, who come from very varying professional backgrounds, will bring a variety of new skills and experience to the Complaints Panel.

Financial and manpower implications

All members of the Complaints Panel serve in an honorary capacity and there are no financial or manpower implications arising from this proposition.

APPENDIX

Chairman

Advocate Richard John Renouf

Advocate Renouf was called to the bar in 1979 and became an advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey in 1984. He was made a partner of Michael Voisin and Company in 1986. From 1989–1994 he practised as a sole practitioner and built up a strong local client base. In 1995 his practice merged with that of Advocate Raoul Lemprière, and they  were  joined  by  Advocate  Marian  Whittaker  under  the  name  of  Lemprière Whittaker Renouf . That firm merged with Jenners in 2011 to become LWRLaw and Advocate Renouf remains an active consultant with the new firm.

Since February 2005 Advocate Renouf has been a Procureur du Bien Public of the Parish of St. Ouen . He has served on the Complaints Panel since 2003 as one of the Deputy Chairmen.

Deputy Chairmen

Mr. Nigel Peter Edgar Le Gresley

Mr. Le Gresley was educated at Victoria College Preparatory School and Victoria College. He was admitted as a Jersey solicitor on 18th July 1983, having taken all the examinations  locally,  including  two  in  French.  He  is  a  previous  member  of  the examining board for advocates and solicitors and runs his own legal practice.  

Miss Christine Vibert

Miss Vibert comes from a legal family, was educated at the Jersey College for Girls and has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of London. She ran her own business since 1990 which specialised in office relocation and project management, as well  as  providing  consultancy  services  on  designing  and  improving  records management  systems.  Following  the  sale  of  Good  Moves  in  October  2011, Miss Vibert now operates as a document management consultant locally. She has a keen interest in Island affairs and a strong belief in the value to the community of traditional honorary service.

Members

Mr. John G. Davies

Mr. Davies was Senior Jersey Partner of Deloitte & Touche and a Regional Partner-in- charge of the United Kingdom Offshore Region. Mr. Davies qualified as a Chartered Accountant  in  August  1974  and  has  wide  managerial  experience.  He  worked  in Industry for 13 years before obtaining his Chartered Accountancy qualifications and moving onto his professional career, from which he has now retired.

Mr. Christopher Beirne

Mr. Beirne is currently the Headmaster and Chief Executive of Beaulieu Convent School, a position he has held since September 2006. Mr. Beirne was educated at

St. Mel's College, Longford, Ireland, the Gregorian University in Rome, the Institute of  Education  at  the  University  of  Hull  and  Oxford  University  Department  for Educational Studies. He worked for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton between 1985 and 1993 before becoming Head of Religious Studies at Eggar's School Alton, Hampshire between 1994 and 1996, during which period he was also a part time lecturer at Portsmouth Sixth Form College. He came to Jersey in 1996 and worked at Victoria College as Head of Religious Studies and then Director of Spiritual and  Moral  Development  before  being  appointed  as  Vice-Principal  of  the  Jersey College for Girls in September 1999, a position he held until he was appointed to his current post. Mr. Beirne is a member of the Management Board of the Jersey Teachers Superannuation Fund and Director of the Channel Islands Operations for Rainbows (Bereavement Support for young people). He is the holder of a private pilot's licence and a member of the Jersey Aero Club and he has been a member of the Complaints Panel since 2009.

Mr. Robert (Bob) Bonney

Mr. Bonney was born in Jersey and was a member of the States of Jersey Police force for some 28 years, retiring in 2005. During his police career Mr. Bonney served in all areas of the police force, including a significant period in a management role in States and Honorary police training. The majority of his service was, however, performed in various criminal investigative roles, during the course of which he led a number of the Island's murder inquiries. He led the Drugs Squad at the rank of Detective Inspector for 3 years before being appointed as the Head of Criminal Investigation Department, a position he held for 5 years before his retirement. Since his retirement he has been involved with his wife in developing his family property, and he has been a member of the Complaints Panel since 2009.

Mr. Frank Dearie

Mr. Dearie has had a long and distinguished career in the financial services industry in Jersey, holding several senior positions and working closely with a number of the UK's leading entrepreneurs.

Having (with his partners) sold his former business to Royal Bank of Canada, he now holds several independent non-executive / advisory positions and many charitable and government sponsored voluntary roles. For example, he is a Trustee of both the Jersey Homes Trust and the Community Savings organisation and sits on the Social Security Advisory Council. He brings a wealth of practical and relevant experience on a variety of matters.

Mr. Stephen Platt

Mr. Platt is Senior Partner of Stephen Platt & Associates LLP. He is a qualified practicing English Barrister and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Washington  DC.  Mr. Platt  has  extensive  experience  as  an  independent  reporting professional.  He  has  wide  experience  of  acting  objectively  and  impartially  in investigating and reporting upon the facts of a variety of matters relevant to the conduct of Financial Services. He is also a core expert to the UN and World Bank StAR anti-corruption initiative and the World Bank project tracking illicit financial flows from Somalian Piracy. Outside his professional duties Mr. Platt is the Chairman of the Jersey Employment Trust which serves to provide training and employment

opportunities for disabled people in Jersey. He has been a member of the Complaints Panel since 2009.

Background information on the 3 new nominees Mr. John F. Mills, C.B.E.

Mr. Mills was educated at Highgate School and Oxford University, where he took first class honours in Modern History in 1971. After working at Oxford for a research degree he joined the U.K. Home Civil Service in 1974. In the 1980s he spent 4 years on secondment to the then Hong Kong Government, and a similar period as the U.K.'s lead official on international telecommunications policy. From 1989 until 1992 he was a  member  of  the  Prime  Minister's  Policy  Unit  at  10 Downing Street,  advising especially on education policy and on local government finance. He was Director of Consumer Affairs, Office of Fair Trading, from 1992 to 1995 and, having left the Civil Service, Chief Executive of Cornwall County Council from 1995 to 1999. In 1999 he moved to Jersey as Chief Executive of the then Policy and Resources Department and worked  in  this  role  until  2003.  From  2003  until  his  retirement  from  full-time employment  in  2007 he  was  Director  of Rural  Policy  at  the  Department  for  the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in London, remaining, however, resident in Jersey. He now lives in St. Saviour .

He now has a range of non-executive public appointments. These include, in Jersey, as a member of the Jersey Financial Services Commission and of the Shadow Board for Harbours and Airport; and, in the U.K., as Vice-Chairman of the Port of London Authority. He has also been appointed by the States to 2 other honorary roles in Jersey: membership of the States Members' Remuneration Review Body and of the PECRS  Committee  of  Management.  In  2009  he  was  also  appointed  to  chair  the Committee  of  Inquiry  into  the  Reg's  Skips'  case.  Since  1999  he  has  also  been Chairman  of  the  Governing  body  of  Highgate  School,  London.  He  is  also  a Commissioner of Appeal for Income Tax.

Mr. Graeme George Marett

Mr. Marett attended De La Salle College and Highlands College, graduating in 1971 with  a  City  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute  Technological  Certificate  in Telecommunications. He subsequently gained a number of qualifications through the Open University (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering) as well  as  a  Post  Graduate  Certificate  in  Competition  Law  and  Economics  from Nottingham University. He worked in the telecommunications industry before running his own computer brockerage business and working as a computer consultant for a number of local businesses including Jersey Post and the Education Department. From 2002  to  2011  he  was  employed  by  the  JCRA  as  the  case  officer  for telecommunications and was involved in the introduction of competition to the mobile telephone  market.  Following  his  retirement  Mr.  Marett  continues  to  operate  as  a computer consultant.

Mr. Patrick David McGrath

Mr. McGrath served with the States of Jersey Police Force for 27 years and he holds a Master of Arts degree in Police and Criminal Justice studies. He retired from the Force in the rank of Chief Inspector in September 2002 and during his policing career

saw service in many departments, predominantly in an investigative role, and he served  with  the  Police  Complaints  and  Discipline  department  receiving  a commendation from H.M. Attorney General for the quality of his investigation in one particular instance. Following retirement he secured management positions within the finance  industry  in  areas  of  compliance  and  anti-money  laundering.  He  currently works on a part time basis at Mont à l'Abbé School transporting children to and from school on a daily basis.