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From being “energetic” to sharing five ideas to “simplify” Government and save money… Concerns have been raised that the Chief Minister has laid the foundations for “another Charlie Parker situation” by setting vague and overly “broad” objectives for the Interim CEO.
Key tasks for Dr Andrew McLaughlin’s £250,000-a-year job also include introducing a “new operating rhythm” among senior leaders, giving “clear” advice to Ministers and writing two papers that “set the strategic vision” for Government by the end of this year.
But Deputy Lyndsay Feltham – who Chairs the panel of politicians responsible for scrutinising the work of the island’s top civil servant – says the objectives appear too "hefty" for someone who is going to be in post for less than a year and would be more appropriate for a permanent recruit to take on.
Outlined in five bullet points, the targets were agreed and made public at the end of last week, as Dr McLaughlin approached the end of his second month in post. The Government said that they would be refreshed quarterly.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chair Deputy Feltham said that the objectives were “surprising”, particularly “given that the current CEO is only Interim with no public sector experience”.
Two of the five goals related to public sector reform – with Mr McLaughlin expected to five advice to Ministers on “future options for the structure of public services” and identify “five pragmatic and deliverable options to simplify public service delivery with material effieciencies by the end of 2025”.
The last attempt at large-scale change came in Charlie Parker’s tenure.
Launched in 2018, Mr Parker’s ‘OneGov’ reforms tore up the structure of Government, creating several new departments, with a promise of savings and a smaller employee headcount.
However, over the following years, the size of the public sector ballooned by more than 1,000 people, with a significant number of new senior leaders on top-tier salaries recruited. A lack of clear oversight and stringent monitoring were blamed at the time.
Pictured: The OneGov reforms were ushered in by former Government CEO Charlie Parker.
Staff surveys also reflected dwindling employee morale and confidence in leadership.
Deputy Feltham said she was concerned about "another Charlie Parker situation" arising.
"There might well be some worried people in the public sector right now who are just getting over the upheaval [from Charlie Parker's 'OneGov' overhaul of the public sector], and need some reassurance that there won't be another similar situation,” she explained.
With Mr McLaughlin only given until the end of this year to deliver “broad changes” that will set a direction for 2024 and 2025, Deputy Feltham also said that the “short time period is a concern”.
She further highlighted the lack of clear measures for success for each of the objectives and that there was "nothing about standards and levels of service [in the objectives] to ensure that that public are getting a good level of service" from the Government.
Pictured: Dr Andrew McLaughlin is Interim CEO on secondment from NatWest bank, where he co-leads its ‘Commercial and Institutional’ division.
Under the law, the CEO is instructed by and accountable to the Chief Minister and Ministers and can be held to account by Deputy Feltham’s committee, the PAC.
However, the Chief Minister doesn’t necessarily have to take responsibility for the ongoing tracking of progress.
Mr Parker was allowed to write his own job description, as Express revealed, and an independent assessor who worked with him before was appointed to oversee and report on his progress. Mr Parker also volunteered to write his own regular reports on the status of his ‘OneGov’ changes.
Express has asked Government how and by whom Mr McLaughlin’s performance will be measured.
The lack of measurable targets for the Government CEO role has been a recurring point of contention since the role's inception.
Last month, a Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel hearing revealed that there is still no date yet for amendments to the employment law which would put in place effective statutory arrangements to set and monitor performance standards for the CEO role.
In August 2018, Express revealed that previous Government CEO Charlie Parker had spent a year in post without a set of 'key performance indicators’ (KPIs) – an agreed set of standards against which his performance can be measured.
The administration at the time, led by Senator Ian Gorst never finalised these in the months between Mr Parker’s appointment and the elections.
Despite continuous criticism over Mr Parker's lack of tangible targets – including by Chief Minister Kristina Moore, when she was a backbencher and scrutineers – it was revealed that the most recent Government CEO Suzanne Wylie had also not been working towards a specific set of targets after 12 months in the £250,000-a-year role.
Pictured: "My departure will open the opportunity to assess if it should be changed and to what degree," said former CEO Suzanne Wylie.
Following Mrs Wylie's shock departure in March, there was much speculation over what prompted her to hand in her notice after just 13 months in post – and it was clear that the CEO’s role and responsibilities were a topic of much discussion at the political top table.
Indeed, in her own resignation letter, Mrs Wylie wrote: “There is much political debate on the role of the CEO and my departure will also open the opportunity to assess if it should be changed and to what degree.”
When later asked about what changes she believe need to be made to the role of Government CEO, Mrs Wylie said that the "level of expectations and support" around the £250,000 job needed improvement.
In the following months, many discussions have been held in the top-tiers of Government about the future of the role, and whether the operational and advisory aspects of the role should be split, while the Chief Minister commissioned someone who had previously held the role – current Charity Commissioner John Mills CBE – to write a report on the matter.
CLICK TO READ: Suzanne Wylie's resignation letter, dated 14 March.
Among his recommendations were that the next CEO should be supported by a team of up to six people, including an in-house lawyer, Cabinet Office Director and Private Secretary.
Despite this, Vice Chair of the States Employment Board Andy Jehan recently admitted that there are "no major changes to the role profile planned, just an update in priorities in line with the new Government Plan”.
The Government has confirmed that recruitment for the permanent Government of Jersey CEO role will start next month.
However, asked by Express when the permanent Government CEO is expected to be in post, how much had been budgeted for the recruitment process, and what recruitment agencies would be used, the Government said that all the other details are not yet finalised.
The first set of objectives to be published since the Natwest International CEO took on the top job in September, the following five objectives are for the fourth quarter of 2023, and will be updated on a quarterly basis:
Provide two key papers which provide a strategic view and set the strategic vision for the Government of Jersey and inform the 2024 planning cycle.
Provide strategic policy advice in a concise, clear and reasoned way on key Council of Ministers’ agenda items as required by the Chief Minister, including on future options for the structure of public services.
Introduce a new operating rhythm to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and its meetings supported by a stronger coaching culture.
Provide the Chief Minister with an options paper which identifies five pragmatic and deliverable options to simplify public service delivery with material efficiencies by the end of 2025.
Role model an energetic, visible leadership style consistent with Government of Jersey values aimed at raising engagement across the organisation.
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