As work continues to try and find out how Guernsey wasted £42million on IT projects that did not deliver promised upgrades, the States Chief Executive is looking to make changes at senior levels across the civil service.
Updating the States on the problems behind the MyGov programme and the Revenue Service IT upgrades this morning, Deputy Gavin St Pier said the Chief Executive and his team are “reviewing — and where needed revising — how Senior Responsible Officers are appointed to major programmes”.
“Too often, regardless of the scale or complexity of a project, those duties have been combined with demanding operational roles, a model that is simply not sustainable or effective for high risk, high value projects,” said Deputy St Pier.
He said that he and Boley Smillie understand that there are “rightly, calls for accountability”, but he warned “accountability cannot be a witch hunt and must be based on evidence. This investigation is about establishing the facts and then acting on them”.
As part of that investigation, Mr Smillie has identified problems with how Senior Responsible Officers are appointed to major programmes and he is already working to address this.
This includes a proposal to “strengthen the Portfolio Oversight Board with appropriate external expertise”.
Deputy St Pier said that expertise will be found locally where possible.
“The island has considerable local talent with this experience that wants to volunteer to help their community,” he said. “This is an opportunity to draw on it for the benefit of the programme portfolio. The process of recruiting that talent is beginning and this should also be taken as an open invitation for those with appropriate experience to get in touch or for Members to suggest candidates.”
Deputy St Pier also told the States that Mr Smillie is looking to address “evidence of a structural misalignment between Civil Service leadership and political objectives, most visibly in how accountability operates through Principal Committees”.
“The lines between political mandate and executive delivery are not as clear as they must be,” said Deputy St Pier – assuring the States that Mr Smillie is dealing with this.
“(Mr Smillie) has therefore concluded that the simplest and most effective change is to return to a model where there is much stronger officer alignment to the Principal Committees. This is not about recreating the past, but restoring a straightforward principle: one Principal Committee, one accountable officer.
“This realignment will not be a disruptive restructure. It will be introduced gradually so roles can be adjusted carefully, delivery remains stable, and the organisation avoids unnecessary upheaval. The intention is steady alignment, not instability.
“Separately, a further lesson from reviewing major transformation programmes is that when initiatives drift, we must intervene much earlier and more decisively.
“Too often, the instinct has been to persist, believing that more time, funding or adjustment will resolve issues. But experience shows that drift rarely corrects itself.”
To ensure there isn’t any further “drift” away from what was promised through the MyGov programme, the Chief Executive and P&R have agreed to pause the digitisation programme that succeeded MyGov, including the launch of the new gov.gg website.
“This is not due to a repeat of earlier failures; the current programme has delivered more substantive progress than its predecessors. The pause is not a judgement on effort, nor is it a sign of failure.
“However, activity is not the same as clarity of outcomes. Before continuing, we must be able to define precisely the benefits the programme will deliver, how they will be measured, and the full financial commitment required,” said Deputy St Pier.
“Over the coming months, we will take stock, confirm intended outcomes, assess costs, and set a sequencing plan. Only with a robust case – clear in value and affordability – will we move forward again.”