Application to the Population Office for an unlimited ‘J’ Category Licence to be granted for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer

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A decision made (25/10/2007) regarding: Application to the Population Office for an unlimited ‘J’ Category Licence to be granted for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer – Jersey Airport.

Subject:	Application to the Population Office for an unlimited ‘J’ Category Licence to be granted for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer – Jersey Airport
Decision Reference:	MD-E-2007-0202		Exempt clause(s):	N/A
Type of Report: (oral or written)	Written		Person Giving Report (if oral):
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?			Report File ref:
Written report – Title	Report to the Assistant Minister, Economic Development, Deputy Alan Maclean to request an unlimited ‘J’ Cat appointment for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer.
Written report – Author (name and job title)	Denise Drieu, Senior HR Manager, Chief Ministers Department.
Decision(s): The Assistant Minister endorsed the proposal to secure the required approvals to enable the appointment of a second suitably qualified, experienced and skilled person from outside the Island under the auspices of the Housing (General Provisions)(Jersey) Regulations 1979, Regulation 1 (1(j)) for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer. On the basis of an unlimited ‘J’ category housing licence. The Assistant Minister recommended that in the event that any appropriately qualified and experienced local applicants should apply they will be considered for appointment prior to considering any UK applications.
Reason(s) for decision: Due to unforeseen resignations, recent and pending retirements and the high failure rate among Trainee Air Traffic Control Officers the Department require a second experienced Officer to be appointed to sustain operations and ensure the appropriate experience and manning level to maintain their licence to operate. This is a specialist role and it is unlikely that any applicants will be found locally and the department is not currently in the position where it can risk taking on only trainees due to the high failure rate of trainees and the urgent need for experienced officers. Evidence shows that it is difficult to recruit to this specialist post from the UK on a short term contract basis. Due to the demographics of the department and impending retirements there is a need to recruit a second experienced ATCO on a permanent basis to maintain experience levels over the coming years. Jersey Airport has a good track record in recruiting Jersey trainees to this post and will continue to do so as part of their on gong succession planning for the department; however the current high failure rate of the Island trainees has meant that the number of trained personnel has reached a critically low level which can only be rectified by employing an experienced ATCO who will require minimum training.
Action required: The Assistant Minister Economic Development makes an application to the Population Office for consideration by the Minister for Housing of the grant of an unlimited ‘J’ category housing licence for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer, under the auspices of the Housing ( General Provisions) (Jersey) Regulations 1970, Regulation 1 (1) j ; Jersey Airport will undertake to advertise the post simultaneously locally and in the UK but will consider all local applicants in the first instance before considering UK applicants for appointment.
Signature: Deputy Alan Maclean Assistant Minister Economic Development		Date of Decision: 25 October 2007

Application to the Population Office for an unlimited ‘J’ Category Licence to be granted for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer – Jersey Airport.

Report to the Assistant Minister Economic Development , Deputy Alan Maclean

to Request an Unlimited ‘J’ Cat Appointment

for the Post of Air Traffic Control Officer

Purpose of Report

The Assistant Minister is asked to support a request and recommend approval for a second unlimited ‘J’ category licence for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer (ATCO).

Background and Discussion

The Air Traffic Control Department of Jersey Airport currently has two unforeseen vacancies for the post of Air Traffic Control Officer. Three further officers have reached the age of 55, 2 of whom have handed in their notices and will retire within the next 6 months.

The Department has in the past recruited trainees to this level post and currently employs 5 Trainee ATCO’s. A sixth trainee has recently failed to validate and is no longer employed. To reach the required standards to meet SRATCOH compliance the trainees have to study to achieve both Aerodrome and Radar validation. Recent trainees have shown a 43 % failure rate and therefore it is likely that this percentage of the current trainees will fail to meet the required standard.

In normal operational circumstances it is usual for a percentage of qualified staff to be given short or long term licensing restrictions for medical reasons. These occurrences are unpredictable but to be operationally compliant the department needs a compliment of 25 trained staff to be able to cover all shifts taking into account any temporary loss of staff.

It takes 3 years for trainees employed by Jersey Airport to reach a fully validated Controller standard and costs the Department, including salaries, etc. approximately over £150,000 per trainee for the process.

The recent retirement of senior members of the Air Traffic Control team has resulted in a severe loss of experience throughout the section and 2 further members have chosen to retire, one at the end of the year and one at the end of March 2008 which will lead to a critical loss of experience with in the team and will undoubtedly affect performance. By recruiting a second fully trained ATCO from the UK, we will be able to maintain experience levels to a standard which will ensure the continued effectiveness of the team.

A fully qualified ATC recruited from the UK would be required to receive six months in house training and then be assessed for local validation. As they will have already achieved validation in the UK it is unlikely they would fail this assessment.

In recent years the ability to recruit ATCO’s on a temporary contract has proved to be limited due to the specialist nature of this post. Colleagues based in Guernsey Air Traffic Control have indicated difficulty in recruiting to a similar post on a permanent basis.

Historically the Airport has a good track record in recruiting, training and promoting ATCO’s in house. It is the Department’s intention to continue to recruit further trainees in the future, however the current needs of the department require the introduction of a second fully trained and experienced Air Traffic Control Officer.

As this is such a specialist role it is unlikely that any appropriate applicants will be found locally and therefore the post would be advertised simultaneously both locally and in the UK. In the event that a locally qualified individual should apply preference will be given to their application, providing they are suitable.

Recommendation

The Assistant Minister endorses the proposal to secure the necessary approvals to enable the appointment of a suitably qualified, experienced and skilled person from outside the Island under the Housing (General Provisions)(Jersey) Regulations 1979, Regulation 1(1((j) for the post of air Traffic Controller on the basis of an unlimited “J” category housing licence.

3.2 The Assistant Minister recommends that in the event that any appropriately qualified and experienced local applicants should apply they will be considered for appointment prior to considering any UK applications.

DD 10.10.07