HR staff moved to clear space for new Ministers’ hub

Thursday 14 June 2018

The States’ HR team have cleared their desks and moved across town – paving the way for a new hub for Ministers in the island’s main government building.

The recruitment and payroll staff – collectively known as the ‘People Hub’ made the move out of Cyril Le Marquand House yesterday morning.

They’ll now be based in the La Motte Street-based Social Security Building, Philip Le Feuvre House.

States officials said that the move would “free up space” in order to provide “a dedicated space for Ministers”, as well as their supporting staff. 

Currently only four out of 10 Ministers have their official registered address as St. Helier-based Cyril Le Marquand, but are spread across different floors. The remaining six - Education, Environment, Health and Social Services, Home Affairs, Infrastructure and Social Security - are based at Highlands, South Hill, the Hospital, 23 Hill Street and La Motte Street.

Pictured: The Council of Ministers will be able to enjoy a "dedicated space" at Cyril Le Marquand House thanks to the People Hub move to the Social Security site.

The move also brings the States a step closer to realising plans for a Whitehall-style States structure, with around 750 office-using staff from different departments united in one building. 

Having a ‘Central Administration Building’ (CAB) has been a key goal in reforming the public sector for many years now. 

Back in 2016, the then Treasury Minister Senator Alan Maclean signed off on a £350,000 feasibility study into whether such a hub would be possible at the preferred sites of La Motte Street and Cyril Le Marquand House.

At the time, he described the Social Security site as a “front-runner”, adding that the States were working towards being in a new building by the end of 2018.

A final decision was never made on this, but new States Chief Executive Charlie Parker promised back in March that proposals for a central building would be brought forward in the near future in a bid to discourage departmental “fiefdoms”.

Following the move, Ian Burns, Chief Officer of Social Security, commented: “We are delighted to welcome our colleagues from the People Hub to La Motte Street, and we look forward to having them as part of the team.”