Almost £500k spent on Gov golden handshakes this year

Thursday 14 December 2023

The Government has spent almost half-a-million pounds on compromise agreements so far this year, with a total of 10 employees leaving with ‘loss of office’ pay-offs during 2023.

A recent response to a Freedom of Information request has revealed that, as of 6 November 2023, there were a total of 10 compromise agreements processed this year for a total cost of £476,295.

The Government confirmed that these 10 compromise agreements relate to staff members that have left the Government of Jersey by ‘loss of office’ during 2023. Their identities or departments were not disclosed.

This total averages as £47,620 per employee.

Compared to the 10 compromise agreements this year, there were just two employees who received a golden handshake last year. 

As disclosed in the Annual Report and Accounts for 2022, these two payments totalled £63,140 – an average of £31,570 per person.

Pictured: There have been a number of high profile resignations this year, including CEO Suzanne Wylie.

In 2021, five employees received loss of office payments totalling £304,856.

This averaged at just over £60,000 per person.

The 2023 figures come after a tumultuous year for the Government, with a number of high profile resignations.

Government CEO Suzanne Wylie announced her resignation in March, shortly after two of the most senior Health officials – Director General Caroline Landon and Chief Nurse Rose Naylor – stepped down.

There were also “major concerns” over the recent resignation of the Government’s top HR professional Mark Grimley, who was appointed during former Government CEO Charlie Parker's 'OneGov' overhaul of the public service.

Pictured: Former Chief Executive Charlie Parker was given a half-a-million ‘golden handshake’ by Government to avert legal action over his early departure.

Strategic Director of Assurance and Risk, Catherine Madden – one of the last remaining Charlie Parker appointments – also announced plans to retire this year, taking with her a pension pot of £1.6m.

The necessity of her £150k-a-year role to be reviewed before a decision is made about whether to hire a replacement or not.

When the departure of Charlie Parker was announced in late 2020, the Government repeatedly refused to reveal whether there had been any exit payment – it wasn't until May 2021, when the States Annual Report and Accounts were published, that the figure of £500,000 in January 2021 was officially confirmed.