Jersey Consumer Council: appointment of Chairman.

STATES OF JERSEY

JERSEY CONSUMER COUNCIL: APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

Lodged au Greffe on 15th December 2014 by the Minister for Economic Development

STATES GREFFE

2014   Price code: A  P.176

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to refer to their Act dated 2nd February 2011 in which they approved the future mandate for the Jersey Consumer Council and agreed, inter alia, that the appointment of the Chairman should be approved by the States on the recommendation of the Minister for Economic Development; and

to approve the re-appointment of Rose Edith Colley as Chairman of the  Jersey  Consumer  Council  for  a  further  term  of  3 years commencing on 1st February 2015.

MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

REPORT

The Jersey Consumer Council (JCC) was originally established by Act of the States in 1995. In February 2011, the  Assembly adopted P.182/2010 which set out a new mandate  for  the  Consumer  Council.  This  included  a  fundamental  change  to  the previous position in that the role  of Chairman  was no longer restricted to being undertaken only by a member of the States. The decision was also taken to provide an honorarium payment of £10,000 per annum to the new Chairman for a minimum of 10 hours per week spent on JCC business.

Following a recruitment process overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission in late 2011, the States approved the appointment of Advocate Rose Edith Colley for a term of 3 years effective from 31st January 2012.

The Constitution of the JCC sets out the rules regarding the appointment of the Chairman as well as members of the Council. Article 12.3 states –

"The  Chairman  shall  hold  office  for  a  term  of  three  years  and  may  be appointed to hold office for a further term of three years but shall not hold office as Chairman for more than six consecutive years."

Advocate Colley has informed the Minister that she would like to undertake a further term of office as Chairman. In particular she is keen to complete the recruitment of new  members  in  line  with  the  amended  Constitution  as  set  out  in  R.104/2014. Advocate Colley has worked hard over the past 3 years to increase the public profile of the JCC and has led its involvement in issues of crucial importance to consumers in the island such as health, debt management and transport. Advocate Colley has also focussed on building links with many of the important stakeholder organisations in the community in order to shift the focus to the JCC being seen as a consumer champion.

The Minister for Economic Development is pleased that Advocate Colley is keen to undertake what will be a final term of office and is therefore recommending for approval her re-appointment with effect from 1st February 2015.

Financial and manpower implications

The  Jersey  Consumer  Council  is  funded  by  an  annual  grant  from  the  Economic Development Department and the grant for 2014 was £100,000. This will continue to be negotiated based on an annual business plan submitted by the Council.

There are no manpower implications.

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P.176/2014

Rose Edith Colley

Rose Colley is an Advocate of the Royal Court and is currently a Partner at Vibert s law firm and head of Family Law.

Advocate Colley became a Solicitor in 1980 and spent a number of years as a lecturer for the Inner London Education Authority before entering into private practice in 1986. She completed her MBA at the Nottingham Law School in 1996.

Advocate Colley moved to Jersey in 1997 becoming an Advocate in 2000 and joined Vibert s the same year as practice director. She is a former acting Bâtonnier, is the current  secretary  of  the  Jersey  Law  Society  and  an  examiner  for  the  Board  of Examiners for the Jersey law exams.

She is looking forward to applying her many skills in leading the Jersey Consumer Council for the next 3 years.