FEATURE: Meet Charlie...

Monday 04 February 2019

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“My days are all long. Long days and short nights. I tend to be up at 06:00, I probably finish work around 23:00,” Chief of the States, Charlie Parker, says.

“Some of that will be working at home, some of that will be meetings, some of that will be seeing, visiting people, some of that will be occasionally representing the island off-island… I am very conscious about spending time talking to people rather than being in meetings.”

Communication is, after all, key when you’re undertaking the biggest single reform to Jersey’s government in living memory.

In fact, Mr Parker describes his ongoing dialogue with staff as his greatest achievement in the year-and-a-bit he has held the island’s most senior civil service position.

Pictured: Mr Parker gave each local media a 20-25-minute interview following the release of his second six-monthly report.

He explains that his ‘One Gov’ ambitions, which have included “casualties” at the most senior levels of the States, the creation of seven new departments and the appointment of over 30 staff in Director-level positions, have been coupled with numerous consultations known officially as ‘The Big Conversation’.

Critics have suggested that this has involved being told the plans, rather than asked about them.

When the suggestion is put to Mr Parker, he responds: “You can’t move forward without listening to people. You can’t move forward without understanding that people will have concerns, and you have to try and address them. And we’re doing that.

“…We’ve had about 700 people involved in the big conversation. They volunteered to come and tell us their concerns. We’ve not had any spare places in any of the events. That’s a sign that people recognise that we’re talking and listening – we’re not talking at them.

Pictured: Mr Parker maintains his dialogue with staff is two-way.

But “talking and listening” aren’t necessarily ‘acting’ in response to concerns – has he ever changed his approach as a result of feedback?

“In the health service they’ve been very concerned about some of the parity issues within grades for different types of health workers and the nurses in particular had a very strong position around that, and we listened to it, and we dealt with it. That hadn’t been dealt with despite all their concerns.

“That was something that I fronted up the meetings at the Opera House. We had a whole series of consultations earlier on in the year, and as a result we made those changes. There’s a very tangible one.”

He adds: “In finance we’ve made some changes, which have been started, we’re making some changes in health to the way in which clinical leads should be responsible and work with professionals rather than just having general managers. We have exactly done that.”

Pictured: He said he had directly changed his approach as a result of feedback from health workers.

Perhaps the perception of someone unwavering has come as a result of his tone. Indeed, many remember – and often quote or parody on social media – Mr Parker’s first speech to staff in which he reminded staff that those who didn’t board the “modernisation train” would be “left on the platform".

And then, of course, there was the infamous “there is no more money” email to all staff.

But he denies that his tone is “blunt” or “brutal”. Instead, he states that his lack of ‘sugar-coating’ is because he values staff  - they are, according to him, “our single biggest asset” – and wants to be honest with them.

“So the States have a structural deficit coming up. £30 to £40 million. What’s the option about that? Do we have to deal with it or do we put taxes up? There is an unfunded component in the pay of several million pounds on top of what we’re already paying.

Pictured: Mr Parker stood by his "there is no more money" message.

“We pay £358million a year in pay, alright? We’re adding to that £24million in our pay offer – part of which is unfunded. And that’s a commitment that we’re making because we know we have to deal with it.

“If staff think that there is going to be an opportunity to take money for funds that we might need, for example, if Brexit goes very differently to what people would hope for and the island’s financial community was put at risk – who are the biggest contributors to the tax system here – how would the public service deal with that?”

He later adds: “What I am also confident is in the States of Jersey, we’ve talked about change and reform for years... Because we’ve not done it, people assume we’re going to either stop or go back or change direction. We can’t, if we’re going to be honest, sugarcoat the decisions that have not been made for 20 or 30 years, which is what’s going on here.”

Even if the message may be difficult to swallow, Mr Parker says that many staff have been grateful to be written to at all, given his predecessor’s track record.

Pictured: Rumours circulating about his leadership are the result of a "vocal minority", Mr Parker says.

“[Staff] have never been written to before, they’ve never been visited before, and…they understand when they meet me that it’s very different from the rumours.”

Social media is a hotbed for those rumours, which according to Mr Parker, are the result of a “vocal minority."

“I’m more interested in hearing direct from staff. Not all social media are staff. Secondly, all sort of things goes on social media. Lots of it is personal, and lots of it is mythical. There’s been a huge amount about me, personally. If I focused on all of that, I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning."

He also points the finger at the media, going so far as to suggest that it “has an agenda." When Express’s photographer takes his photograph at the end of the interview, he says: “My smiling [photos] have been used to show arrogance and independence and couldn’t give a proverbial in places.”

Pictured: "They understand when they meet me that it’s very different from the rumours.”

The comment is made with a half-smile, but it’s unclear whether this is intended as a joke or a genuine slap on the wrist.

In any case, he says that he understands his recruitment (which controversially included the awarding of housing qualifications) and change programme have been polarising.

“I am, actually, very clear that, yes, there will be some colleagues that feel it’s too quick, they’re not being listened to, ‘I don’t like it, and I’m going to show discontent’.”

He also said he recognises the strength of feeling towards tradition in Jersey, which has led to his recruitment of UK professionals and implementation of initiatives echoing those in his previous workplaces of Oldham and London branded an attempt to create ‘Westminster-on-sea'.

Pictured: "What’s going on here is not about an imported change programme."

“I’m alive to the fact that here there’s a large amount of history, community and the values. What’s going on here is not about an imported change programme – this is being looked at and worked through to talk about Jersey’s uniquenesses.”

In fact, he says that he’s made every effort to become “part of the community."

In the mornings, he goes swimming in St. Helier and the weekends see him “go and support the rugby club”, “use local facilities” or “volunteer” – that is, if he’s not in the UK watching his preferred football team, Manchester City.

Mr Parker said he has enjoyed a “terrific” welcome by the island too. “I’ve had a huge number of people who have actually stopped me in the street at said, ‘Well done, keep going’."

Pictured: "[People] have actually stopped me in the street at said, ‘Well done, keep going’."

In reality, he suggests that tensions aren’t necessarily to do with him personally or the change he’s implementing, but “culture problems” that have been long-lasting, which he inherited. And perhaps his ‘rip off the plaster’ approach.

“So you’ve said there’s a culture problem of decades and decades. So how would you deal with that? Some people will feel like that is too fast, but other people have said to us ‘get it over and done with quickly’. Every time I’ve been involved in change, after a period, probably 15 to 18 months, people look back and say,'I’m glad we’re still not in it'.

He describes the here and now as the “recovery” phase, but acknowledges that not everyone is on board the “modernisation train."

“Of course, of course. But that’s inevitable. You tell me any change programme where everybody is on board. It’s never happened, it never will happen. In every change programme, you go down before you come up. Morale goes down, uncertainty creates concerns.”

Pictured: "In every change programme, you go down before you come up."

As recorded in his latest six-month report, some of the train’s key stops have so far been getting a partner in place to modernise the States’ IT systems and to help them manage their purse better, and creating a Ministerial Support Unit, which the report noted would allow closer working with politicians.

That being said, government officers’ lingering presence in corridors was a topic over which States Members recently expressed concern – and how close is too close?

Time to test that assumption by checking the States CEO’s take on the pressing political issues of the day: the future hospital, and the future States HQ.

He won’t reveal much. He believes the future hospital – wherever it may be – should involve “joined up” thinking, but its construction must also be married with a focus on community care.

Pictured: Mr Parker says the new States HQ should be built in an area of town in need of regeneration.

“For example, if you deal with mental health, or you deal with a whole series of issues we’ve found In children’s – if you did the work earlier with families, supported people in independent living, if you give the right facilities that might not be hospital-based, you often avoid them having to come into the hospital.”

As for the HQ, he is firm that it must be in a town location in need of regeneration. Was he disappointed about the Ann Court decision?

“I take no view about decisions like that. That’s not my role… When I’m asked, I do give my advice.”

Well, we’re asking…

“I’ve given my advice to the Council of Ministers. I’m very clear: the States building should be in St. Helier, it should be a building which reduces a lot of our estates offer, so that we can save money, concentrate people in one place, we can get better communication and integration and we start to create the basis for a better customer-facing public service.”

Pictured: "When I’m asked, I do give my advice.”

There’s so much more to ask – accountability, what he thinks about those rumours - but the interview is drawing to a close.

In any case, he's certainly an expert in answering journalistic questions, carefully avoiding all political pitfalls. All responses are thorough, considered and polished.

A prime example, ‘Do you have any regrets?’ is met with a response one might liken to a job interviewee calling themselves a 'perfectionist': he wishes he could have spoken with “even more” States workers.

Photography: Gary Grimshaw.