The Government should be “robust” enough to not be shaken by the departure of a CEO, the Chief Minister has said.
The Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel this week grilled Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham and Government CEO Andrew McLaughlin amid ongoing concerns about lack of stability at the top tiers of the civil service in recent years.
But officials were evasive about their plans to find a replacement for Dr McLaughlin, who is on course to become the longest-serving Government CEO in recent years – despite not being employed on a permanent contract.
Dr McLaughlin’s six-month fixed-term contact was due to end on the 31 December 2024, but was extended until December 2026.
Express later revealed that over £60,000 was spent on the recruitment process for a permanent Government CEO which was abandoned after just two months.
Asked this week about a strategy to make a permanent appointment, the Chief Minister said that this same theme of “stability and continuity” made up “the heart of the work on succession planning”.
Deputy Farnham said that Dr McLaughlin is currently leading the work on succession planning, adding that his Government would leave its successor a succession plan for the CEO’s role.
When pushed by scrutiny panel member Deputy Jonathan Renouf about the difference between a fixed-term and a permanent appointment, Deputy Farnham said: “I think everybody is different, aren’t they?
“I think the focus with the current CEO has been on long term strategy. That’s the majority of what we’re doing now.
“But for example, we think that it’s important that internal leaders can compete against external candidates.”
He pointed out that two out of the previous four Government CEOs had been permanent and that “we couldn’t foresee” that Suzanne Wylie, Dr McLaughlin’s predecessor, would resign suddenly in 2023.
“It’s absolutely sensible to have the current format, where there’s an end date with an option to continue,” added Deputy Farnham.
He said that he hoped that in future, he hoped the Government would be “robust enough to ensure that the future doesn’t rely on the departure of the current CEO”.