Health and Community Services external turnaround team (FOI)

Request

Turn around team

Can you provide me with the following information on the above?

A

The length of time they will be in Jersey for or is this permanent jobs, if so will they be zero hours or on fixed contracts?

B

Will we be paying for their accommodation?

C

Will they be provided with and will we be paying for a means of transport for them?

D

What will be the total cost to Jersey for each individual?

E

Will they be paying Social Security Contributions?

F

Will they be paying Income Tax?

G

Where will the funds for this Turn around Team be coming from?

Response

A

The members of the change team have contracts for service which require them to work up to a fixed number of days per week (not zero hours). The contracts end on or before 31 December 2023 (not permanent). 

B 

Flights and accommodation costs will be met by the Government of Jersey. Travel to and from their usual residence to a UK departure airport will not be paid for. Travel and accommodation is within Government of Jersey procurement policy and booked via the approved government travel provider. Return flights are booked on an economy basis and accommodation is booked on a bed and breakfast basis at government approved rates. 

C

Please see response to B above.

D

Cost information will be published transparently as part of the report to the States Assembly every six months on the cost of consultants, fixed-term employees and agency staff employed by the Government of Jersey, in accordance with proposition P.59/2019. The total cost for the team including renumeration, flights and accommodation is estimated to be up to c.£200k in the first quarter of the year. The actual cost will depend upon factors such as number of days worked and frequency of travel required in order to support each phase of the turnaround. The team members will not be paid for any non-working days.

Costs are not provided on an individual basis, as the daily rates paid to individual contractors are considered to be commercially sensitive. Article 33 (Commercial Interests) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.E

As the members of the team are on contracts for service and are not Jersey resident, any tax or contributions liability will arise in their usual place of tax residency.

F

Please see response to E above. 

G 

The Government Plan 2023-26, as amended and approved by the States Assembly on 16 December 2022, provided a total of up to £1.5m in 2023 to support Health and Community Services Turnaround – please see reference I-HCS-GP23-015 on page106 of the Government Plan 2023-26 in the link below: 

Government Plan 2023 to 2026.pdf

Article applied

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public Interest Test

Article 33 (b) is a prejudice-based exemption. That means that in order to engage this exemption there must be a likelihood that disclosure would cause prejudice to the interest that the exemption protects. In addition, this is a qualified exemption and consideration must be given to the public interest in maintaining the exemption.

The Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) considers that providing information Article 33(b) could prejudice the commercial interests of the Government of Jersey and/or third parties. There may be public interest in the commercial information however it was considered that this is outweighed by the potential for commercial and/or financial damage.