We are the Public Accounts Committee. We receive reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General and report to the States Assembly any significant issues arising. It's our role to assesses whether public funds have been applied for the purpose intended.
Performance Management in the Government of Jersey
The former Chief Executive, Charlie Parker, introduced a new structure termed ‘One Government’ (OneGov) at the start of his tenure in 2018. This new structure included an overarching Target Operating Model for the Government which set out the desired future state of the organisation. Individual departmental TOMs were then established and put in place to embed the new OneGov structure.
As part of the OneGov and TOM process, a number of performance management tools and methods were introduced.
- The Recommendations Tracker: A Tracker was introduced in 2019 and is used to track responses to the recommendations made by the PAC and the C&AG. Recommendations are monitored by using a Red, Amber, Green system.
- The Jersey Performance Framework: The Jersey Performance Framework was published in 2020 and is used to measure the progress Jersey makes towards achieving sustainable wellbeing. Sustainable wellbeing includes community wellbeing (the quality of people’s lives); environmental wellbeing (the quality of the natural world) and economic wellbeing (how well the economy is performing).
- Customer feedback and complaints handling: The Government launched a new Customer Feedback Policy in September 2019 which sets out the expectations of the complaints procedure and timescales for resolution of issues. The ethos of the Policy is about learning from feedback, especially in relation to complaints.
The Committee's Review
The Committee launched its review in February 2021 to assess performance management within the Government following a number of significant changes to modernise public services.
To inform the review, the Committee wrote to a number of stakeholders seeking their views on the modernisation programme and how performance is managed.
Public hearings were also held with the former and interim Chief Executives and Director Generals during 2021 and 2022
The Committee's review has resulted in 40 key findings and 30 recommendations which will be responded to by the Chief Executive before the end of the term. A summary of these findings and recommendation follows next. Alternatively, to read them all in detail, click on the full report below.
OneGov reforms
The purpose of OneGov (‘One Island, one community, one future’) was to reorganise the public service, focusing on collaborative working, eliminating silos and improving services.
In April 2019, the former Chief Executive published ‘OneGov: One Year on’ which outlined the progress made in modernising and improving Jersey’s public services. It summarised improvements to the long-term strategic approach including the Common Strategic Policy (setting out the Council of Ministers’ five strategic priorities), a new Government Plan (a rolling four-year plan, updated annually) and preparation for a new Island Plan 2021-30 (an integrated, strategic and spatial approach to challenges and opportunities in Jersey).
The Committee found that the implementation of the OneGov reforms was a significant change for the Government. The Interim Chief Executive’s view was that the changes proved controversial in parts and the sheer complexity of the Government and public services was underestimated when the programme was first introduced in 2018.
The Government did not develop a single costed plan or business case for the restructuring process made through the TOMs. The Committee would like to see evidence of the cost of Government at the beginning of the process, when the need was identified to restructure/modernise and improve processes. Although the implementation of the TOMs was not principally a cost-saving exercise, the Committee believes that it is in the public’s interest to demonstrate whether the structural changes and changes to services were successful and represented value for money.
The Committee recommended that when a need is identified for restructuring or modernising Government, the changes should always be accompanied by a baseline for change or a business case.
Modernisation and Digital - Information Services
The Government acknowledged in 2018 that modern IT infrastructure and systems were “a critical component in delivering modern, integrated and value-for-money public services”. The Government also acknowledged that it did not have enough in-house capacity and expertise to deliver the scale and pace of transformation whilst also maintaining day-to-day support for public services.
The Integrated Technology Solution programme was launched in 2020 and is being delivered by the Chief Operating Office to replace a number of outdated and unsupported IT systems. The aim of the I.T.S is to deliver a “modern, fit for purpose technology solution and best practice processes that a fit for future generations” providing support for finance, human resources and procurement activities by replacing the JD Edwards, Peoplelink, Talentlink and Supply Jersey systems.
The Committee found that the Integrated Technology Solution has been accompanied by insufficient reporting of delivery against contract Key Performance Indicators.
The Committee recommended that the Government should ensure that all future major technology solutions and related projects are accompanied by sufficient reporting of delivery against KPIs and that reporting is undertaken on benefits realisation or on progress made in delivering benefits in practice.
The Committee also found that the Integrated Technology Solution has not been accompanied by an overall IT Strategy for the States of Jersey which shows how technology investment will support and impact services, including the departmental and service changes implemented through the OneGov programme and Target Operating Models. In order to address this, the Committee recommended that the Government develop an overall IT Strategy for the States of Jersey which shows how technology investment will support and impact services.
Performance Management initiatives within Government
The former Chief Executive introduced a number of performance management tools and methods following the modernisation of public services. Three of the main initiatives were the Recommendations Tracker, the Jersey Performance Framework and processes in relation to customer feedback and complaints handling.
Recommendations Tracker
A Recommendations Tracker was introduced in 2019 and is used by the Government to track the recommendations made by the PAC and C&AG. Recommendations are monitored by using a Red, Amber, Green system.
The Recommendations Tracker is a spreadsheet-based system which keeps track of C&AG and PAC reports issued since 2014. It is used to record and manage the recommendations and the Executive Response to each recommendation made.
The responsibility of maintaining, updating, and organising the Recommendations Tracker sits jointly within Treasury and Exchequer and the Office of the Chief Executive. The Chief of Staff provides oversight of prioritisation for each recommendation and provides constructive challenge if there is insufficient information to support the recommendation.
The Committee found that there are issues with progressing agreed recommendations on the Recommendations Tracker into actions to completion. This is based primarily on dependencies and staff shortages within Government.
The Committee recommended that Government should undertake an analysis of the Recommendations Tracker and identify common themes. The Committee believes this would enable corrective action to be put in place in order to deliver more effectively on recommendations.
Performance Framework
On 17th January 2020 the Jersey Performance Framework was announced by Government showing Jersey’s progress in achieving sustainable wellbeing. The Government explained that sustainable wellbeing is a way of measuring progress of a society and is a more holistic concept than measuring Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Value Added (GVA) to monitor how well a country is performing.
Sustainable well-being measures:
- Community wellbeing (the quality of people’s lives).
- Environmental wellbeing (the quality of the natural world).
- Economic wellbeing (how well the economy is performing).
In 2020, the Jersey Performance Framework was supplemented with Service Performance Measures which are used to monitor how services are performing. The Service Performance Measures were included in the 2020 Departmental Operational Business Plans and were reported on for the first time in the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts. This will continue in future business plans.
The Committee welcomes this consistent approach to setting out each service performance measure across the departments which enables the public and the Assembly to hold Government to account.
Customer feedback and complaints handling
The Government developed a “customer experience measurement” as part of its Customer Strategy. The Government has indicated that it is at different stages of rollout in different Departments and customer feedback volumes are low in some areas compared to the volume of interactions. The gov.je website explains that work is progressing to increase volume across Government as the measurement becomes more embedded.
In addition to the initiatives to collect customer feedback, the Government also introduced measures to collect employee feedback following the implementation of the OneGov reforms. The former Chief Executive commissioned a One Voice survey in 2018 which asked staff what they think about working for the Government of Jersey and how they felt about their job and working environment.
Following the One Voice Survey, the former Chief Executive explained in his first 6-monthly report that he was committed to more regular surveys in the future. The follow-up ‘Be Heard’ survey was undertaken in 2020 which supplied a benchmark at the start of the OneGov implementation.
The results show that, amongst other wellbeing issues, staff felt too much under pressure at work to perform well too much time working and feeling exhausted most days.
The Committee is concerned about staff morale which has ultimately suffered as a result of widescale changes. With the introduction of Team Jersey, originally set up to help facilitate a culture change within the organisation, the Committee would have expected to see an improvement in staff morale within the two-year period since the changes were implemented.
The Committee recommended that the Government should undertake another staff survey in 2022 which should include the same measures as the BeHeard survey. This will ensure that improvements in all areas can be identified as well as the areas that require greater attention, such as staff morale.
Performance Management within the Civil Service
Performance is generally managed within the civil service by conducting My Conversation, My Goals (MCMG) meetings. MCMG replaced the Performance Review and Appraisal process during the implementation of the modernisation programme. The purpose of MCMG is to provide states employees with the opportunity to discuss their career and development aspirations with their manager. It also aims to demonstrate the link between the job role of the employee, their departments goals and the organisations overall goals.
In terms of the performance of Directors General, this is the responsibility of the Chief Executive who does this by undertaking regular face-to-face meetings including My Conversation, My Goals for personal objective setting. The Chief Minister acts as line manager to the Chief Executive.
The Committee found that the former Chief Executive introduced a coordinated approach to financial reporting, corporate risk registers, complaints, sickness and health and safety which has facilitated the performance management of Directors General.
Performance Management within Government
The Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) Departmental Operational Business Plan sets out a range of activities from a corporate perspective that underpins the whole of Government
The OCE ensures the day-to-day operation of the organisation runs effectively, overseeing the governance arrangements of the organisation through managing the key decision-making groups such as the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Operating Committee (OpCo), which are made up of the most senior officers within Government
Non-Ministerial Departments
There are a number of Non-Ministerial Departments within the States of Jersey where accountability does not sit with a Minister.
The C&AG published a report on Non-Ministerial Departments in 2019 and explained that, for constitutional reasons, Non-Ministerial Departments sit outside the Government of Jersey. However, corporate functions, such as Human Resources, Information Technology and Estates Management as well as Finance, sit within the Government. There is therefore an important interaction between Non-Ministerial Departments and the Government.
The C&AG found that there were no formal arrangements for monitoring of performance in place for the Bailiff’s Chambers and States Greffe. The C&AG highlighted a number of areas where the Government and Non-Ministerial Departments can improve the ways in which they work in partnership to support good governance and improve accountability.
The Committee recommended that the Government should prioritise the recommendations made by the C&AG on formalising the relationship between the Government and Non-Ministerial Departments including the creation of a high level statement, Terms of Reference for liaison meetings, Memoranda of Understanding and Service Level Agreements.
Arm's Length Organisations and Specified Organisations
The Government works with a number of Arm’s Length Organisations (ALOs) and specified organisations which are defined in the Public Finances Manual. ALOs are organisations which fulfil a role or function the States of Jersey would otherwise perform.
Within Arm’s Length Organisations are Specified Organisations; these are organisations where the Principal Accountable Officer is able to appoint an Accountable Officer under the terms of the Public Finances Law”. The Chief Executive as PAO is responsible for the appointment of an Accountable Officer in a Specified Organisation and for determining their functions. This is to ensure that there is accountability for the best use of public resources even when service delivery is conducted at arm’s length to the Government’s administration
The previous C&AG published a report ‘Oversight of Arm’s Length Organisations’ in June 2017 and said: “Jersey is no different from other Governments in having a number of ALOs. But the establishment or funding of an ALO does not relieve Government from a responsibility for ensuring that good governance is being demonstrated, effective internal control is in place and value for money is being secured. Where funding flows from Government to an ALO, the relevant Accounting Officer has a personal responsibility for the application of public funds and, ultimately, the relevant Minister has a political responsibility. It is essential that the organisations funded by the States are not regarded as out of sight and out of mind”.
The C&AG concluded that a consistent corporate framework for review of the continued operation of ALOs and their ability to deliver was required and that the framework for the governance arrangements for ALOs needed strengthening. The C&AG also found that oversight of ALOs was variable with differing practices on, for example, documentation of meetings and use of performance indicators to monitor delivery.
In order to address the governance arrangements with Arm’s Length Organisations, the Government has set up an Arm’s Length Body Oversight Board. The Committee recommended that the Board should ensure that the Government’s work and relationship with Arm’s Length Organisations and Specified Organisations is aligned with the key strategic priorities of the Council of Ministers and States Assembly
Non-Government Organisations
In addition to ALOs, the Government of Jersey also works in partnership with a number of non-Government organisations such as registered charities. These organisations are generally defined as being independent of Government influence although they may receive Government funding.
The Committee wrote to a number of non-Government organisations to seek their views on their relationship with Government in terms of performance management. This includes communication and how complaints are handled.
There were mixed views from non-Government organisations about how effective their relationships were with Government. Organisations who expressed mostly negative views were from child/family-based organisations. There were also inconsistencies in the views expressed by non-Government organisations in terms of the Government’s handling of complaints or issues in the services they deliver.
The Committee recommended that the Government should introduce key targets for how it works in partnership with non-Government organisations, including key points of contact in services and clarity in how it deals with issues and complaints.
Conclusion
The PAC has aimed to assess whether the modernisation programme through the OneGov reforms and subsequent performance initiatives have improved ways of measuring, monitoring and reporting on performance. Although good progress has been made, the Committee has not been able to effectively determine if they have resulted in overall improvement to performance which remains to be determined as the reforms continue to be embedded.
We hope our report and recommendations provide helpful feedback to the Government and which seek to complement the progress made in enhancing performance management within the public sector.
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