Jersey Police Complaints Authority – Appointment of Chair and Member

STATES OF JERSEY

JERSEY POLICE COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY – APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR AND MEMBER

Lodged au Greffe on 8th August 2024

by the Minister for Home Affairs Earliest date for debate: 10th September 2024

STATES GREFFE

2024  P.52

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

in accordance with Article 2 of, and the Schedule to, the Police (Complaints and Discipline) (Jersey) Law 1999, to appoint Mr. Chris Stephenson as Chair of the Jersey Police Complaints Authority, and Mr. Simon Burgess as a member of the Authority, each for a period of 3 years commencing immediately.

MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

REPORT

The role of the Jersey Police Complaints Authority (JPCA) is to oversee, monitor and supervise  investigations  into  complaints  against  the  Police  undertaken  by  the Professional Standards Department (PSD).

The  JPCA  does  not  carry  out  the  investigations  and  Members  are  not  trained investigators. The JPCA is independent of the police and government and its role is to ensure that the investigating officers carry out the investigations it supervises in a thorough and impartial manner to ensure the police achieve high standards in the handling of complaints, conduct matters and death or serious injury cases.

Article 1(1) of the Schedule to the Police (Complaints and Discipline) (Jersey) Law 1999 stipulates that the JPCA shall consist of a Chairman and not less than 6 or more than 8 other members. The Chairman and other members are appointed by the States on the recommendation of the Minister.

The States Assembly approved P.169/2020 on 19th January 2021 to appoint Janet Naylor as Chair of the Police Complaints Authority for a period of 3 years.

The Minister wishes to record her gratitude to the outgoing Chair, Mrs Naylor, for her dedication to this voluntary role during her tenure as Chair. She has driven forward important improvements to the operation of the Authority and has been a source of consistent and valued advice.

Equally, the Minister is grateful to those Members who are retiring from their roles on the Authority after their period of much valued service.

For the reference of Members, the current membership of the Authority is as follows:

Rachel Catchpole – Deputy Chair David Porter – Member

Allison Le Couteur – Member Jenna Newlands – Member Blake Albert – Member

These appointments are therefore necessary to ensure the Authority has sufficient members to meet the relevant legislative requirements.

Further recruitment is planned to commence imminently to seek additional Members. Recruitment process

Further  to  arising  vacancies,  an  on-island  recruitment  process  was  undertaken commencing in May 2024. Adverts were placed on the Government of Jersey careers site to seek a new Chair and members for the JPCA.

A full interview process was held, with a panel consisting of the Chair of JPCA, Deputy Chair of the JPCA, Chief Officer for Justice and Home Affairs and Head of Service, Customs and Immigration.

Three candidates were interviewed and of these, the below recommendations are made. Page - 3

P.52/2024

Candidates

Mr Chris Stephenson (Chair)

Mr Stephenson is an experienced People Director with achievements in business start- up, turnaround, team building and change, with detailed and in-depth experience across multiple commercial sectors and the public sector (NHS, local and central government).

Mr Stephenson is the current Chair of the Jersey Appointments Commission. Potential conflicts of interest with this role were considered by the Panel and the Minister, who were content to recommend his appointment subject to agreed mitigations.

Mr Simon Burgess (Member)

Mr Burgess is an experienced arbitrator and mediator bringing a keen understanding of fairness, due process, independence and integrity.

He provides commercial and real estate consulting services whilst also acting as an independent non-executive director on fund boards globally. He has previously worked at senior level within international financial services businesses and banks.

Children's Rights Impact Assessment

A Children's Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) has not been prepared in relation to this proposition as a CRIA is not required, in accordance with Schedule 2 of the Children (Convention Rights) (Jersey) Law 2022.

Financial and staffing implications

Members of the JPCA serve on a voluntary basis. Accordingly, there are no financial or manpower implications arising from this proposition.