Important

You can’t apply for this appointment

The application deadline has passed or the appointment has been closed for applications.

Appointment details

Experience of managing investments - Personal Injury Discount Rate Expert Panel

Summary

• Organisation: Personal Injury Discount Rate Expert Panel
• Sponsor department: Ministry of Justice
• Location: London
• Sectors: Business and Trade
• Skills: Audit and Risk, Insurance
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 10 meeting(s) per annum
• Remuneration: £300 per day
• Length of term: 1 year
• Application deadline: Midnight on 5 April 2023

Share this page

The following links open in a new tab

Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   8 March 2023

2. Application deadline

   Midnight on 5 April 2023

3. Sifting date

   19 April 2023

4. Interviews expected to end on

   5 May 2023

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the Personal Injury Discount Rate (PIDR) Expert Panel. This is a rare opportunity to join a statutory panel whose role it is to provide advice directly to the Lord Chancellor. You will be helping to inform the approach to compensation for victims of life changing injuries.

We are seeking an individual who is an authority in their field and can work collaboratively with the three other members of the panel and the Government Actuary as Chair. If you believe you have the experience and qualities we are seeking, I hope you will consider applying for this position.

If you have further questions about this post, please contact personal-injury-discount-rate@justice.gov.uk

Appointment description

Job Description

Acting as the Expert Panel member with experience of managing investments will be an exciting opportunity to inform government decision-making in an area which has a tangible impact on citizens in ensuring fair compensation for the victims of life-changing injuries. It is expected that this member will be able to use this knowledge to provide detailed, accurate advice as to how the PIDR could be set in accordance with the legal framework set out in the legislation.

Organisation description

The PIDR is a statutory method for the way lump sum compensation for future financial loss is calculated in serious personal injury cases (i.e., those whose impacts are expected to last over a period of years). In such cases, some or all of the compensation is received in the form of a lump sum payment which, as it is received in advance of when it is needed, it is assumed that the recipient (the claimant) will invest.

The purpose of the PIDR is to reflect that the return that a claimant could reasonably be expected to receive from investing the lump sum element of damages is to be considered as available to meet their needs. The availability of that return can be reflected in a reduction in the lump sum that would otherwise be awarded based all other relevant factors such as the nature and severity of the injury and its expected duration. More specifically, the lower the PIDR, the larger the lump sum will need to be.

The PIDR is therefore an essential part of calculating appropriate levels of compensation in cases of serious injury and it is the duty of the Lord Chancellor under the Damages Act 1996 (DA 1996) to set the PIDR.

The Civil Liability Act 2018 (CLA) amended the DA 1996 to specify a new methodology for the Lord Chancellor to review and set the PIDR. The Lord Chancellor’s next review must be commenced before 15 July 2024 and the legislation stipulates that Lord Chancellor must establish an expert panel, chaired by the Government Actuary, to advise for that purpose.

The Expert Panel

Upon the Lord Chancellor’s direct consultation of the expert panel, its role is to provide independent advice. The Expert Panel will act in a collective capacity when offering its advice.

The panel, appointed by the Lord Chancellor, is established for each rate review only - ceasing to exist when that review is concluded – and must operate within the statutory timeline stipulated by the CLA. It is expected that some of the panel’s advice to the Lord Chancellor will be made public.

The role of the Expert Panel is to advise the Lord Chancellor on different investment decisions that claimants could be expected to make, including the likely nominal returns, the relevant indices of inflation to convert them into real values, and other matters such as the appropriate deductions for investment management costs and taxation. The Expert Panel will also provide the Lord Chancellor with explanation of the likely outcomes of different options for the PIDR such as whether a single PIDR (as now) is set or whether setting more than one PIDR is more appropriate.

The rate, or rates, itself will be set by the Lord Chancellor following consultation with both the Expert Panel and HM Treasury. The panel is an opportunity to bring additional expertise into the review process.

The Government Actuary will chair the panel with four additional members to be appointed by the Lord Chancellor. In line with the requirements of the DA 1996 we are looking for:

1. one member with experience as an actuary; 

2. one member with experience of managing investments; 

3. one member with experience as an economist; and  

4. one member with experience in consumer matters as relating to investments. 

In providing advice to the Lord Chancellor, the Expert Panel will be required to consider a government consultation on the PIDR, the responses from a Call for Evidence and may commission other research or analysis they deem necessary. The role may also involve working with others (outside of the four members and Chair) who the panel may invite to attend or speak at meetings, consult externally and commission information or analysis from. The MoJ will act as secretariat to the panel.

Panel members will act as independent experts in providing their advice and will be required to disclose potential conflicts of interest. Further information on the role of the Expert Panel can be accessed in the Terms of Reference.

Person specification

Essential criteria

Candidates will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Practical experience or academic expertise of long-term portfolio construction, management and an understanding of client motivations and objectives;

• Deep understanding of the economic, social and technological factors affecting long-term investments;

• Capacity to commit to the flexible working commitments required by the panel and excellent time management skills;

• Effective communication and written skills;

• A high degree of impartiality and integrity; and

• The ability to analyse and debate complex issues.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of the PIDR and the considerations which are relevant to setting it; and

• Knowledge of the relevant stakeholders and sectors interested in and affected by the PIDR.

Application and selection process

How to apply

To make an application, please send:

• A CV (maximum two sides of A4) detailing your qualifications, employment history and any appointments or offices you hold. Please also provide your preferred contact number and email address; and

• A personal statement (maximum two sides of A4) providing evidence against the role criteria and your suitability for the post. Please consider the role and criteria carefully in preparing your statements. Applications which offer specific and tailored examples against the criteria, making clear the candidate’s role in achieving an outcome, are often the strongest. Structuring the statement around the criteria using relevant headings also aids clarity.

Supporting Documents form (attached separately on cabinet office website)

Please also complete and return the Supporting Documents form which seeks the following information:

• Conflicts of interest and previous conduct: if you have any interests that might be relevant to the work of the Expert Panel, and which could lead to a real or perceived conflict of interest if you were to be appointed, please provide details in your supporting documents.

Conflicts might arise from a variety of sources such as financial interests or share ownership, membership of, or association with, particular bodies or the activities of relatives or partners. If you need further advice, please contact the Personal Injury Discount Rate Team at personal-injury-discount-rate@justice.gov.uk.

Diversity monitoring form – Please complete this online form.Click here. Information is requested for monitoring purposes only and plays no part in the selection process. It will be kept confidential and will not be seen by the Assessment Panel.

Please send your CV, personal statement and supporting documents to personal-injury-discount-rate@justice.gov.uk. We will acknowledge receipt.

The Advisory Assessment Panel reserves the right to only consider applications that contain all of the elements listed above, and that arrive before the published deadline for applications.

Overview of the application process

Public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition process which is conducted in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. We will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will keep you informed at key stages. We aim to conclude the appointment process within three months of the deadline for applications – this is in accordance with the Governance Code.

The assessment process

1. Ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the public appointments made within their department. As a result, they must be consulted at every stage of the appointments process.

2. An Advisory Assessment Panel (“Panel”) is appointed by Ministers to assist them in their decision making. The role of the Panel is to decide, objectively, which candidates meet the eligibility criteria for the role.

3. At the shortlisting meeting the Panel will assess applications against the eligibility criteria and decide which candidates have best met the criteria, who should be recommended for interview. Ministers will then be consulted on the Panel’s recommended shortlist. If you have applied under the Disability Confident Scheme and you meet all the essential criteria, then you will also be invited for an interview.

4. Once the shortlist has been agreed by Ministers, you will be advised (by e-mail) whether you have been shortlisted. Those shortlisted will be invited to an interview.

5. The Panel will meet again to interview candidates and determine who is appointable to the role. The Panel may invite you to make a brief presentation at the start of the interview and will go on to question you about your skills and experience, including asking specific questions to assess whether you meet the criteria set out for the post. The Panel will also explore with you any potential conflicts of interest or any other issues arising from your personal and professional history which may impact on an appointment decision.

6. Details of the panel’s assessment of interviewed candidates are provided to Ministers, including whether they have judged a candidate to be appointable to the role. It is then for Ministers to determine merit and decide who should be appointed. In some circumstances, Ministers may choose not to appoint any candidates and re-run the competition.

7. Ministers may choose to meet with candidates before deciding the outcome. Candidates should therefore be prepared for a short time gap between interview and a final appointment decision being made. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept informed of progress.

8. Once the decision on the appointment has been made, interviewed candidates will be advised of the outcome of their application, including whom they may approach for feedback. Successful candidates will be issued with their Terms & Conditions and a letter of appointment should they agree to take up the position.

Further information about appointments, including tips on applying, can be found on our guidance pages on gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen by ministers to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Panel Membership:

• Names of panel members – (unless an exemption has been granted)

Ministry of Justice Panel Chair – Alex Wilks, Chief Economist

Martin Clarke, Government Actuary

Osama Rahman, Director of the Data Science Campus, Office for National Statistics

Independent Panel Member

Eligibility criteria

In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.

There are a small number of specialist roles that are not open to non-British citizens. Any nationality requirements will be specified in the vacancy details.

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. 

You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:

• you are disqualified from acting as a company director  (under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);

• have an unspent conviction on your criminal record;

• your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors.

When you apply, you should declare if:

• you are, or have been, bankrupt or you have made an arrangement with a creditor at any point, including the dates of this. 

• you are subject to a current police investigation.

You must inform the sponsor department if, during the application process, your circumstances change in respect of any of the above points. 

When you apply you should also declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for. You should also declare any other matters which may mean you may not be able to meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct of Board Members (see Outside interests and reputational issues section below)

• There must be no employment restrictions, or limit on your permitted stay in the UK. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years prior to your application;

• You should not be employed in the UK Civil Service; and

• You must have either practical experience or academic expertise of managing investments and portfolio construction.

If you need further advice, please contact  personal-injury-discount-rate@justice.gov.uk

Security clearance

The successful candidate will be required to undertake Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks in line with the Civil Service guidelines. Additional Security Clearance may also be required for certain roles. However, where this applies, candidates will be notified during the appointment process. Further information on National Security Vetting can be found on the Gov.uk website here.

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve and this is an important part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people. 

As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘minimum criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to select if you would like your application considered under this scheme.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

Some examples of common changes are:

• ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
• making adaptations to interview locations;
• allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
• giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
• allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
• making provision for support animals to attend.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

Principles of public life

Holders of public office are expected to adhere to and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life. These are:

1. Selflessness - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.
2. Integrity - Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.
3. Objectivity - Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
4. Accountability - Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
5. Openness - Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
6. Honesty - Holders of public office should be truthful.
7. Leadership - Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Code of conduct for board members

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. In support of this, all non-executive board members of UK public bodies must abide by the principles set out in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code sets out the standards expected from those who serve on the boards of UK public bodies and will form part of your terms and conditions of appointment.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully: 

• any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government; 
• any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made; 
• and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported; 

which may call into question your ability to do the role you are applying for.

You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies. 

Details of declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code (political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers.  Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or serve in any one post for more than ten years

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid. 

You can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs which are properly and necessarily incurred on official business, in line with the travel and subsistence policy and rates for the organisation to which you are applying. However these payments are taxable as earnings and will be subject to tax and national insurance, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.  

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy.

Please contact the Alex Randall of the  public appointments team in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application at publicappointmentsteam@justice.gov.uk. They will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and respond within 15 working days.

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

Your personal information

We will process your application in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Ministry of Justice’s Information Charter, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/personal-information-charter.

Your data will be held securely, and access will be restricted to those dealing with your application or involved in the recruitment process. Your data may also be shared with the other relevant government departments, including the Cabinet Office, as part of a complaint investigation or review of the recruitment process. Cabinet Office will handle data in accordance with their Privacy Notice https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/privacy-notice. Your data may also be disclosed as required by law or in connection with legal proceedings.

Your data will be stored for up to two years and processed for the purpose of the recruitment process, diversity monitoring and, if successful, your personal record. If appointed, your data will be stored for the duration of your tenure and may be shared with the organisation to which you are appointed, unless you specifically request us not to.

Contact details

If you need further advice, please contact the Personal Injury Discount Rate Team at personal-injury-discount-rate@justice.gov.uk. 

Attachments

• Candidate Information Pack

• Supporting Documents