Children, Young People, Education and Skills staff appointment (FOI)

Request

When the appointment of Rob Sainsbury being made permanent Director General of Children, Young People, Education and Skills department (CYPES) was announced, we were told that there this was following a thorough recruitment process. Could you please therefore answer the following questions.

A

What exactly was the process followed?

B

During the year that Mr Sainsbury was in place as interim DG, how often and where was the permanent position advertised and for how long in each instance?

C

Were there advertisements placed in publications or did we just use an employment agency?

D

If no publications were used, why not?

E

How many people applied for the role?

F

How many people were Jersey residents?

G

Who shortlisted the applicants? (names and positions)

H

Did the Health Minister meet with any of the applicants?

I

Did the Director General of HCS meet with any of the applicants? If so, why?

J

Did the Minister for Education meet any of the applicants?

K

Was the head of HR for HCS involved in this process?

L

Was the head of HR for Education involved in this process?

M

Was the head of HR for the SOJ involved in this process?

N

Were the Chief Minister or Deputy Chief Minister involved in this process?

O

Did the States Employment Board interview any of the applicants? If so, how many of them?

P

What are Mr Sainsbury's qualifications in respect of this role? 

Q

What experience does Mr Sainsbury have with regard to Education?

R

Were any of the other applicants qualified in Education?

S

Why was it thought that Mr Sainsbury was more qualified than someone who had previous experience in this area?

T

Who sat on Mr Sainsbury's employment panel for the permanent role?

U

How many people were on the final shortlist?

Response 

A

The original acting up (Interim) appointment to the role of DG CYPES was overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission. An internal open competition was conducted and advertised internally across the Government where six internal candidates applied and were considered for the role. Five candidates were selected to undertake Psychometric tests and attended a full panel interview. Mr Robert Sainsbury was deemed the appointable candidate into the Acting up (Interim) position.

B to D

As part of the Government’s policy to build internal and Island skills and succession planning, a review was undertaken as part of Mr Sainsbury’s capability and performance in the interim position with a view on the completion of a number of objectives to be considered being substantiated in the position. As such the role was not advertised. This approach was agreed with the Jersey Appointments Commission.

E

For the original acting up (Interim) position, six people applied for the role.

F

For the original acting up (Interim) position, all six candidates were resident in Jersey.

G

The panel for the recruitment to the Acting-Up (Interim) position was as follows:

• Dame Janet Paraskeva – Chair of the Jersey Appointments Commission (JAC) and Chair of the Panel (Non-voting)
• Paul Martin – Interim Government of Jersey Chief Executive Officer
  
• Caroline Landon – Government of Jersey Director General for Health and Community Services (HCS)
  
• Julie Coward – Jersey based independent panel member.

H

No.

I

The Director General of HCS was a panel member for the Acting up (Interim) appointment.

J

Ministers are not involved in decisions related to recruitment.

K

No.

L

No.

M

Yes, in an advisory capacity.

N

No.

O

No.

P

An individual's qualifications are considered Personal Information and therefore its release is restricted under Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) 2011 Law.

Q

Mr Sainsbury has been in Executive Director positions working across health and care facing services, education and children’s services.

R

For the initial Acting-Up (Interim) appointment one other candidate had experience of working in the education sector.

S

Appointment into the role was based on the core skills, attributes and behaviours associated with appointment to a director and the same criteria was applied to all applicants and scored by the panel accordingly.

T

• Simon Nash – JAC Commissioner and Chair of the Panel
• Suzanne Wylie – Government of Jersey Chief Executive Officer
• Glenn Houston – Chair, Jersey Care Commission.

U

Please see the response provided for question B above.

Article applied 

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

3)      In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.