Plans to extend the civil service recruitment freeze were revealed by the Chief Minister during a scrutiny hearing on Friday afternoon.
Senator Lyndon Farnham said that it was his “intention” that the freeze, which was initially introduced in 2024 and later expanded in a bid to curb the growth of the island’s public sector workforce, would continue into next year.
He made the comments while facing questions on his priorities for this term of office, including efforts to maintain the strength and sustainability of public finances.
The plan is to continue with the freeze
Chief MInister Lyndon Farnham
Senator Farnham told the panel that the freeze, which targets back-office functions and prioritises staff recruitment to frontline services, is in place until the end of this year.
“The intention is to extend it,” he added, noting that “just to be clear, employment is permitted on a strict replacement basis”.
He also noted that: “If there’s any essential roles that we decide need to be taken on, we consider that.
“But the plan is to continue with the freeze.”
Asked if this was creating operational risks in terms of the ability of government departments to deliver their services, the Chief Minister said: “Not that we’re aware of.
“The biggest growth in staff has been in frontline Health services, and you’d need to seek a briefing from the Health Minister and officials there because we know we’re still struggling with waiting lists in certain areas.”
He added: “That is one of the key priorities we’ll be focusing on, is the reduction of waiting lists. So there are staff implications there, but generally across the public sector we haven’t identified any risk.”
