We are the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). It's our role to scrutinise Jersey's government on whether public funds have been used efficiently, effectively, and economically to deliver value for money for Islanders
Performance Management – Follow Up Review
The previous Public Accounts Committee (PAC) undertook a review of Performance Management across the Government of Jersey during late 2021, with a report being presented to the States Assembly on 8th March 2022.
A recommendation made by the previous PAC to its successor was that progress on the implementation of the recommendations arising from this report should continue to be tracked.
Furthermore, it is important to identify and track the open recommendations made from C&AG reports that are currently within the recommendations tracker and the progress that is being made in addressing them by the Government of Jersey.
During a quarterly public hearing with the Chief Executive of the Government of Jersey, the PAC followed up on specific points raised in the previous report and were concerned that objectives for the Chief Executive have yet to be set by the new Council of Ministers.
Furthermore, the Committee noted that the performance appraisal process for Chief Officers with the exception of the Chief Executive, falls in-line with the rest of the organisation, however, further assurance is required about this specific point.
The PAC identified within its review of the States Annual Report and Accounts 2021 that reporting on performance did not necessarily follow the 'golden thread' from the Common Strategic Priorities through to the Departmental Delivery Plans and the measurable outcomes provided on the gov.je website on a quarterly basis.
As such, it is important to clarify the processes in place to ensure that the performance management processes within Government are being clearly linked to Ministerial and overall Departmental objectives and gain assurance over the suitability of those processes in meeting those objectives.
The Committees Review
The Committee launched its review on the 4th of April 2023 to consider the following key issues:
1) To identify the steps that have been taken in order to implement the recommendations made in the previous Public Accounts Committee's report P.A.C.2/2022 by:
- Examining the success, or otherwise, of the implementation of the recommendations.
- Assessing the steps that are being taken to implement the recommendations that are outstanding.
2) To identify and assess the status of recommendations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General within the recommendations tracker that relate to improving performance management across the Government of Jersey.
3) To examine the processes and culture in place in relation to the appraisal and objective/key performance indicators setting of the:
- Chief Executive Officer of the Government of Jersey
- Chief Officers
- Employees of the Government of Jersey
4) To establish how performance management processes and cultures across the Government of Jersey are linked to Ministerial and Departmental objectives and assess the suitability of these processes and reporting of outcomes.
The Committee as part of its evidence gathering for its review held hearings with Government Officials and Departments.
- 11 hearings were held with key Government Stakeholders.
The Committee received submissions from Chief Executive of the Government of Jersey on the 19 May 2023 and JCSA on the 16 May 2023.
In total, the previous PAC made 30 recommendations within its report across the areas examined, and subsequently the Government accepted 29 of those in full and one in part and provided detailed action plans in respect of how they would be implemented.
The Executive Response to the Performance Management review, updated in April 2023, classified 13 ‘Accepted’ Recommendations as ‘Active’ and 13 ‘Accepted’ Recommendations and one ‘Partially Accepted’ recommendation as ‘Completed’ or ‘Closed’. All open recommendations were due to be closed by the end of 2023.
Executive Summary
The report presented an overview of the recent changes to the Government structure as part of the One Gov reforms and assessed how new performance management processes within Government and non-ministerial departments had been embedded and applied.
The report also assessed the modernisation of Information Technology systems throughout the organisation and examined the tools and processes that were being used by Government in order to track and measure its own performance. Specifically, these were:
- The Recommendations Tracker
- The Jersey Performance Framework
- Customer Feedback and complaints handling
As part of the review, the appraisal process was considered for Chief Officers, including the Chief Executive Officer of the Government of Jersey.
Furthermore, Customer Feedback and complaints handling was not considered due to the planned work of the Comptroller and Auditor General in this area which the previous PAC was due to follow up.
The disestablishment of the Chief of Staff role resulted in the transferral of responsibility for all previous PAC Performance Management recommendations, to the newly established Strategic Director of Assurance and Risk.
This has now been transferred to the Head of Office of the Chief Executive following the retirement of the Strategic Director of Assurance and Risk.
The Head of Office provides coordination over a network of departmental leads known as the Tracker working group. Regular reporting is shared with the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Officers and the Public Accounts Committee.
This has now been transferred to the Head of Office of the Chief Executive following the retirement of the Strategic Director of Assurance and Risk.
The Head of Office provides coordination over a network of departmental leads known as the Tracker working group. Regular reporting is shared with the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Officers and the Public Accounts Committee.
Following feedback from the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Interim Chief Executive Officer has initiated a review of the systems and processes for both tracking recommendations as well as those providing assurance on accountability for implementation.
The objective of this work will be to better align strategic improvement plans with corporate and departmental risk profiles, and to prioritise effectively to deliver those plans alongside other work and ministerial priorities.
This will require more considered responses to sources of review and audit to drive corporate improvement, addressing any weaknesses in governance and increase accountability for delivery.
An outline for the establishment of the Cabinet Office restructure, was presented to the States Employment Board and the Council of Ministers.
Information and metrics about how the Cabinet Office restructure can be assessed to demonstrate that it enables the delivery of specific Government workstreams does not appear to be available.
Conclusion
The PAC has found that there has been considerable work undertaken since the previous PAC report on performance management and the recommendations made within that.
The Executive Response to the Performance Management review, updated in April 2023, classified 13 ‘Accepted’ Recommendations as ‘Active’ and 13 ‘Accepted’ Recommendations and one ‘Partially Accepted’ recommendation as ‘Completed’ or ‘Closed’.
The creation of the Cabinet Office has brought together a number of key Government services which hold responsibility for key aspects of performance management. Whilst information has been provided to the PAC in relation to the requirement and need for this fundamental change, the PAC is disappointed that the recommendations made in the previous report relating to the need for a full business case to be put forward in respect of any restructure of Government services have not been followed on this occasion.
Furthermore, the restructure and implementation of the Cabinet Office has removed the previous Chief of Staff role within the Office of the Chief Executive and replaced it with the Strategic Director for Assurance and Risk, although responsibility for this has now passed to the Head of Office of the Chief Executive.
A considerable number of key actions outlined in the Executive Response to the previous PAC report have been transferred over to this new role following the disestablishment of the Chief of Staff role and work is being undertaken in order to ensure recommendations are effectively tracked across government.
A new appraisal system has been developed and introduced in the form of Connect Performance; however, this is still in its infancy and will require further review and monitoring to ensure it is fully realising its benefits. The PAC has made recommendations that it hopes will assist in realising these overall benefits.
Furthermore, work is still required to fully realise to overall reporting of performance management and ensuring that the ‘Golden Thread’ that flows from Ministerial Objectives through to departmental delivery plans and employee objective setting is fully realised. Again, recommendations have been made in order to assist the Government in this process.
The PAC would like to thank all of the Chief Officers for discussing these matters with them and also the Comptroller and Auditor General and her team for their assistance in bringing this report together.