Appointment of Members of the Fiscal Policy Panel.

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A decision made (10/09/2007) regarding: Appointment of Members of the Fiscal Policy Panel.

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2007-0091
Decision Summary Title :	Appointment of Members of the Fiscal Policy Panel		Date of Decision Summary:	10/09/07
Decision Summary Author:	Dougie Peedle - Economic Adviser		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Appointment of Fiscal Policy Panel		Date of Written Report:	7/09/07
Written Report Author:	Dougie Peedle, Economic Adviser		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Appointment of Members of the Fiscal Policy Panel
Decision(s): The Minister agreed that Mr Christopher Allsopp, Ms Marian Bell and Mr Joly Dixon be recommended to the States for appointment to the Fiscal Policy Panel for 3 years.
Reason(s) for Decision: P.133/2006 set out that the Fiscal Policy Panel would be established as part of a new Fiscal Framework. The objectives are that the Framework will lead to a more transparent and credible process for making tax and spending decisions in the Island. It will also help ensure that fiscal policy is set to be more counter-cyclical and therefore maximise the economic potential of the Island, with particular focus on meeting the States inflation target. The Framework incorporates the Stabilisation Fund with the Minister for Treasury and Resources responsible for its operation, but having regard to the advice of a new independent Fiscal Policy Panel (FPP). It was agreed that the FPP will be made up of leading independent economists that can bring together the right mix of experience and skills. The role of the FPP is to publish an annual report in September each year for the Treasury and Resources Minister. As set out in P.133/2006 the States Economic Adviser was responsible for organising the appointment process and making a recommendation to the Treasury and Resources Minister. The process adopted was agreed and overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission and included advertising nationally in the Economist magazine. Five candidates were selected for interview on 22 and 29 August 2007. The interview panel was unanimous in its recommendation to the Minister that the following three candidates had the most appropriate skills and experience and should be appointed to the Fiscal Policy Panel: Christopher Allsopp CBE Marian Bell CBE Joly Dixon CMG The interview panel also recommended that Joly Dixon should act as Chair of the FPP.
Resource Implications: None (costs to be met from current budgets).
Action required: Officers to arrange for Report & Proposition to be lodged au Greffe.
Signature:		Position: Senator Terry Le Sueur, Treasury and Resources Minister
Date Signed: 10th September 2007		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Appointment of Members of the Fiscal Policy Panel.

REPORT BY THE ECONOMIC ADVISER ON THE APPOINTMENT PROCESS FOR THE FISCAL POLICY PANEL

Background

P.133/2006 set out that the Fiscal Policy Panel would be established as part of a new Fiscal Framework. The objectives are that the Framework will lead to a more transparent and credible process for making tax and spending decisions in the Island. It will also help ensure that fiscal policy is set to be more countercyclical and therefore maximise the economic potential of the Island, with particular focus on meeting the States inflation target.

The Framework incorporates the Stabilisation Fund with the Minister for Treasury and Resources responsible for its operation but having regard to the advice of a new independent Fiscal Policy Panel (FPP). It was agreed that the FPP will be made up of leading independent economists that can bring together the right mix of experience and skills. The role of the FPP is to publish an annual report in September each year for the Treasury and Resources Minister.

Appointment process

As set out in P.133/2006 the States Economic Adviser was responsible for organising the appointment process and making a recommendation to the Treasury and Resources Minister.

The process adopted was agreed and overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission and included advertising nationally in the Economist magazine.

Five candidates were selected for interview on 22 and 29 August 2007and were interviewed by a panel consisting of

Mike Liston – Chairman, Jersey Appointments Commission
Ian Crich - Director of Human Resources, and Executive Officer to the Appointments Commission
Mike King - Chief Executive, Economic Development
Dougie Peedle - States Economic Adviser.

Recommendation

The interview panel was unanimous in its recommendation to the Minister that the following three candidates had the most appropriate skills and experience and should be appointed to the Fiscal Policy Panel:

Christopher Allsopp CBE
Marian Bell CBE
Joly Dixon CMG

The interview panel also recommended that Joly Dixon should act as Chair of the FPP.

Biographies of selected candidates

Mr Christopher Allsopp CBE

Director, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Christopher Allsopp is a Fellow of New College and Reader in Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. He has recently completed a Review of Statistics for Economic Policymaking (the 'Allsopp Review'). He is a former Member of the Monetary Policy Committee (2000-2003) and of the Court of Directors of the Bank of England (1997-2000). He is the Editor of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy and a Director of Oxford Economic Forecasting. Previous activities include working at HM Treasury, the OECD and the Bank of England (where he was Adviser from 1980-83) as well as extensive involvement with domestic and international policy issues as consultant to international institutions and private sector organisations. He has published extensively on monetary, fiscal and exchange rate issues as well as the problems of economic reform and transition.

Ms Marian Bell CBE

From June 2002 to June 2005, Marian Bell was an external Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, to set interest rates to meet the UK Government’s inflation target. Prior to that, Marian held posts at The Royal Bank of Scotland where, inter alia, she set up and managed the successful Treasury and Capital Markets Research function, covering interest rate, fixed income and currency markets for the major economies, at HM Treasury and at the London Enterprise Agency. She set up alpha economics in September 2000 to undertake independent research and consultancy. Marian was a founder member both of the Guardian's Economic Advisory Panel, the so-called "wise women", and the Sunday Business Shadow Monetary Policy Committee. She has been quoted frequently in the press and appeared often on radio and television. Marian was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to macroeconomic policy and economics.

Mr Joly Dixon CMG

Joly Dixon spent nearly 30 years at the European Commission, holding a variety of senior posts. He was Director for International Economic Affairs in the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs from 1992 to 2003, dealing primarily with enlargement and transition economy issues as well as representing the Commission in a number of international economic groups. For the previous five and a half years he was a member of the cabinet of President Jacques Delors, concentrating on economic and monetary issues.

From mid-1999 to September 2000, he was appointed the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General in the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), where he headed the European Union’s part of the mission, which was in charge of economic reconstruction. He has also worked extensively on taxation reform in Bosnia, where until recently he was Chairman of the Indirect Tax Authority.

He is a member of the UK Statistics Commission and a fellow of the Royal Statistics Society. His career began as a lecturer in economic statistics and econometrics at the universities of York and Exeter.

Dougie Peedle

Economic Adviser 7 September 2007