Government chief executive Charlie Parker became a non-executive director of New River in September, although his appointment was not shared with his employer – the States Employment Board – or Jersey’s Council of Ministers until it was revealed last week.
In a statement issued last Thursday, the government said that Mr Parker’s role entailed four half-day board meetings per year and one strategy day – a total of three days – which would be covered as part of his annual leave entitlement.
However, New River’s annual report and accounts, published in July, outlines a significantly higher level of commitments from its directors.
The report states: ‘Non-executive directors are required… to devote as much of their time, attention, ability and skills as are reasonably required for the performance of their duties. This is anticipated as a minimum of one day a month.
‘The board remains satisfied that all of the directors spend considerably more than this amount of time on board and committee activity. This has been especially demonstrated during the Covid-19 crisis. Each NED has made themselves available at short notice to discuss the crisis and its impact as events unfolded. During March and April 2020, the board met at least weekly with full attendance.’
A government spokesperson confirmed that Mr Parker’s commitments to the directorship role were as outlined earlier this week. They said: ‘Different directors have different time commitments. The documents published by New River during the summer were backward-looking and covered the commitment of directors during the previous year, including during the pandemic.’
There was no comment from the government regarding the JEP’s query about why it had not been made clear that the terms of engagement for Mr Parker’s appointment differed from those of the company’s other directors.
The annual report includes a register for the seven members of the New River board during 2019, with all seven members noted as having 100% attendance at the five board meetings that took place in 2019.
A government spokesperson confirmed that the time commitments outlined in last week’s statement were correct, adding:
‘Different directors have different time commitments. The documents published by New River during the summer were backward-looking and covered the commitment of directors during the previous year, including during the pandemic.’
There was no comment from the government regarding the JEP’s query about why it had not been made clear that the terms of engagement for Mr Parker’s appointment differed from those of the company’s other directors.
The issue has provoked anger among Islanders and strong objections from several politicians, including the lodging of a vote of no confidence in Chief Minister John Le Fondré over his handling of the affair by Senator Kristina Moore.
Earlier this week Senator Le Fondré admitted several shortcomings in the government’s handling of the issue. This included a statement wrongly stating that the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister had cleared the approval, and criticism of Mr Parker’s ‘oversight’ in failing to seek written approval for the appointment, in line with his government contract.
The Chief Minister said on Monday that ministers, who met in crisis talks on Sunday night, felt Mr Parker’s role was incompatible with his commitment as Jersey’s chief executive. These sentiments were due to be fed back to Mr Parker during a meeting yesterday, Senator Le Fondré stated, with the outcome fed back to ministers and the States Employment Board later in the day.
It has not yet been confirmed publicly whether the meeting with Mr Parker took place, and whether the chief executive had accepted ministers’ views about the New River role.
