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19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 4WE
Senator Kristina Moore Chair, CSSP
BY EMAIL
9 February 2021 Dear Chair,
STATES EMPLOYMENT BOARD: PUBLIC SECTOR PAY AND CEO APPOINTMENT
- Public sector pay
Public sector pay negotiations are underway with the Police, Prison, Civil Servants, Manual Workers, Fire and Rescue, Headteachers, Nursing, and Teaching pay groups.
Pay awards for senior managers on an individual contract and the Local Negotiating Committee for doctors have not yet opened. Senior leaders except doctors have had a substantive pay freeze since 2018.
The objective of the SEB in pay negotiations is to ensure that there is equal pay for work of equal value. For this year in particular SEB wish to ensure that any offer represents no detriment in terms of cost of living using the normal benchmark inflation figure to end September 2020. They are also mindful of the overall increase in the wage bill over the past decade and the sustainability of the public sector wage bill. Alongside this, the SEB are mindful of the finances of the Government as set out in the Government Plan, the potential for lower receipts into Government (that fund public sector pay) and the borrowing requirements at this time.
- Chief Executive Recruitment
As previously explained to the CSSP, in December 2020, the recruitment of the Chief Executive is set out in the Section 26AA in the Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005, supplemented by the Guidance issued by the Jersey Appointments Commission. The States Employment Board approves the approach to the market, the requirements of the role and receives reports on the progress to the appointment before considering the final candidate recommendation and terms of the appointment as the employer.
The SEB have requested that, given the Jersey Appointments Commission are part of the appointing panel (whereas they are normally a neutral chair of any other appointments), the First Commissioner of the UK Civil Service acts as the neutral chair to provide oversight, impartiality and assurance to the SEB regarding the appointment.
The panel for the recruitment of the permanent Chief Executive will consist of:
• First Commissioner of the UK Civil Service, non-voting Chair
• Chief Minister, Government of Jersey
• Chair of the Jersey Appointments Commission
• Two local Jersey Appointments Commissioners
• Independent Member from the Island
• Technical Adviser (usually a current or former chief executive of a similar jurisdiction)
A limited tender for selection of a search firm to lead the search for a permanent Chief Executive has been untaken. Six firms were invited to present proposals and five firms responded. Based on a most economically advantageous assessment of quality and cost, Odgers Berndtson have been selected. Officers will be meeting with Odgers Berndtson in early February to plan the search and propose a suitable timeline.
The panel for the recruitment of the interim Chief Executive consisted of:
• First Commissioner of the UK Civil Service, non-voting Chair
• Chief Minister, Government of Jersey
• Chair of the Jersey Appointments Commission
• Two local Jersey Appointments Commissioners (one acting as the Independent Member from the Island)
Prior to appointing the interim Chief Executive, the SEB considered the following options:
• Acting-up arrangement from the current Executive Leadership Team: this was discounted as the Executive Leadership Team collectively expressed concern about the capacity of individuals to step up and the back-fill arrangements required during a period of considerable change and investments, mindful of the delivery of the Government plan and significant programmes of work underway.
• Maintaining the vacancy and going straight to permanent search: this would result in a gap in public service leadership. It would also mean fulfilling the statutory roles of Head of Public Service role and Principle Accounting Officer from officers internally which was discounted for reasons similar to those above. Additionally, an international search would require a long lead-in time (typically 6 – 12months) as potential candidates would have to consider family situations and relocation (if appointed from outside of the Island), made all the more challenging during a period of Covid related travel restrictions. Maintaining a vacancy for this period was considered untenable.
• Sole Search on-Island: Discounted as any candidate from Jersey ought to be benchmarked against other candidates with similar experience. If a sole search on-Island had failed, then the delay would leave either a gap in the leadership of the public service at a critical time. To address this, the SEB were clear and mandated the executive search agency to advertise within Jersey and to put forward candidates from the Island alongside other candidates.
Therefore, the natural conclusion was that an interim appointment, drawn from a range of candidates who met a previously drawn up specification, would be put to the appointing panel and a contract put in place to allow interim leadership whilst a thorough search for a permanent Chief Executive both on-Island and internationally took place. Paul Martin was one of three candidates that were assessed by the panel and the panel felt that he best met the requirements for the role.
Yours sincerely,
Senator John Le Fondré Chief Minister