Civil service restructuring (FOI)

Request

Would the states release copies of any analysis, reports or data produced to date, that show how the States of Jersey is intending to monitor, or is monitoring, the savings being made from the civil service restructure.

Including in this please provide copies of any 'business cases', project documents or reports that have been created to inform how/where savings could be made via this restructure, and any estimates to date of the costs to taxpayers, including any 'return on investment' reports that shows the costs weighted against benefits and how long before savings will start to be made.

Clarification provided

Broadly speaking I am after copies of business cases or cost benefit analysis that informed how/where savings could be made via the states restructure.

On the 08/03/2018 there was this states news item put out that detailed staff savings and 9 new departments.

Proposals for public sector restructure
presumably there would have been some research and cost benefit analysis carried out before the plan was put into action and consultation. I am interested in accessing that detailed information, that should have been conducted by treasury or HR that evidence the declared 1million in staff savings.

On the 10/10/2018 it was reported in the Bailiwick express and other media that in a speech given to members of the Chamber of Commerce that the states restructure would save about '£30 million' I would be interested in accessing copies of that speech and any presentation materials, or the copies of information that gave rise to that £30million estimate.

In December the 2019 treasury budget news on gov.je said
'So, in addition to the £30 million of savings that will be generated in 2019, the public service will have to reduce its costs further by 2022.

Public service modernisation will make a huge contribution to the development of sustainable public finances.

Effective modernisation of public services through managing the organisation as a single Government rather than a loose collection of federated departments will enable cross-cutting efficiencies to be delivered rather than the silo-based cuts to services of the past.
However, further savings will necessitate considerable funding on a strict invest-to-save principle, particularly in our I.T. (information technology) infrastructure and services.'

There is reference to public service modernisation making contributions to savings – presumably there is some financial estimates determined by treasury and resources that have been made to determine the 'scale' of the contribution that can come from service modernisation and/or estimates of the financial value of the efficiencies.
In addition there is reference to strict 'invest-to-save' principles – therefore 1 quarter into 2019 I would be interested to know if there are any government business cases that are making use of that principle, and if so would be interested in seeing a copies of such business cases that show how investment will lead to savings?

In other information requests there has been reference to the “Office Modernisation Project” in relation to having a states HQ built at Ann Court in town. Presumably this project is part of the states restructure or has aims that align with it, as part of that project surely there has been some study into determining the requirements of a new states HQ, and trying to reduce government costs? I would be interested in any documentary evidence about that project and its aims and any formal reports, recommendations or analysis produced within that project.

Response

Request A

On the 08/03/2018 there was this states news item put out that detailed staff savings and 9 new departments.

Proposals for public sector restructure
presumably there would have been some research and cost benefit analysis carried out before the plan was put into action and consultation. I am interested in accessing that detailed information, that should have been conducted by treasury or HR that evidence the declared 1million in staff savings.

Response A

The new target operating model (TOM) was designed following the outcome of due diligence across the organisation in 2017 and underpinned by the following key principals:
- Customer Focus
- One Government
- Simple Structures
- Cross-cutting and agile
- Digital
- Integrated financial control
- Clear, transparent and accountable
- Commercial

Further details in relation to the applied principals is detailed within the following One Gov document:

One island, one community, one government, one future

The £1 million in staff savings that is referred to within the above news release is a calculation based upon the reduction of senior staff roles. The following Freedom of Information response supports the financial impact of this decrease:

Reduction in senior leadership roles (FOI)

Request B

On the 10/10/2018 it was reported in the Bailiwick express and other media that in a speech given to members of the Chamber of Commerce that the states restructure would save about '£30 million' I would be interested in accessing copies of that speech and any presentation materials, or the copies of information that gave rise to that £30million estimate.

Response B

A copy of the speech of the Chief Minister to the Chamber of Commerce is accessible by other means at the following link:

Chamber of Commerce speech 10 October 2018
The original £30m estimate cited was based upon a consideration of anticipated achievable efficiencies of approximately 4% of total costs. This was based upon a strategic assessment before the development of a detailed Efficiency Programme which is being developed (please refer to Response C(a)).

Request C

In December the 2019 treasury budget news on gov.je said
'So, in addition to the £30 million of savings that will be generated in 2019, the public service will have to reduce its costs further by 2022.
Public service modernisation will make a huge contribution to the development of sustainable public finances.
Effective modernisation of public services through managing the organisation as a single Government rather than a loose collection of federated departments will enable cross-cutting efficiencies to be delivered rather than the silo-based cuts to services of the past.
However, further savings will necessitate considerable funding on a strict invest-to-save principle, particularly in our I.T. (information technology) infrastructure and services.'

C(a)

There is reference to public service modernisation making contributions to savings – presumably there is some financial estimates determined by treasury and resources that have been made to determine the 'scale' of the contribution that can come from service modernisation and/or estimates of the financial value of the efficiencies.

Response C(a)

A major objective of One Government transformation is to deliver better value for money for islanders. Securing efficiencies and better outcomes for islanders is the right thing to do but this objective was given additional impetus with the announcement by the Treasury Minister in autumn 2018 that a £30-40 million budget deficit is forecast from 2020. An Efficiencies Programme is being created to support this objective and is focussed on delivery of sustainable efficiencies from the end of 2019 onwards.

Working across government the Efficiency Programme will identify a number of opportunities for efficiencies through a series of discovery phases. The intention is to deliver the same or better services at lower costs and the opportunities are varied; they include eliminating waste, redesigning services, reviewing processes, enhancing commercial arrangements and reviewing spending.

Work in relation to the Efficiencies Programme is ongoing and will be agreed by Ministers as part of the new Government Plan in the last quarter of this financial year. The financial information to underpin this Programme is subject to ongoing due diligence before it is agreed by the Council of Ministers.

C(b)

In addition there is reference to strict 'invest-to-save' principles – therefore 1 quarter into 2019 I would be interested to know if there are any government business cases that are making use of that principle, and if so would be interested in seeing a copies of such business cases that show how investment will lead to savings?

Response C(b)

Draft invest to save business cases are being progressed. These are currently in a sensitive position and as yet no decisions have bene taken in relation to them.   These will be considered as part of the Government Plan.

Release of these business cases is exempt under Article 33 (Commercial Interests) and Article 35 (Formulation and development of policies) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011. Further explanation of the application of these exemptions is provided below:

Article 33(b) Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) the economic interests of Jersey; 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).

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 information within the draft invest to save business cases could prejudice the commercial interests of both the Government of Jersey and 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.

Article 35 Formulation and development of policies

Information is qualified exempt information if it relates to the formulation or development of any proposed policy by a public authority.

The SPA is withholding the release of any draft invest to save business cases as they relate to the formulation and development of policy by the public authority.

Article 35 is a qualified exemption, which means that a public interest test is required to be undertaken by the Scheduled Public Authority (SPA). It is therefore necessary for the scheduled public authority to carefully examine the circumstances of the case. Following assessment the SPA has to decide whether, on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Although there is a need for transparency, accountability, financial and good decision making by public authorities this information relates to an ongoing situation and sensitive aspects of the ongoing transformation of the Government of Jersey. The SPA – and indeed good government, requires officials to be able to discuss and test proposed policies in a comprehensive way. Whilst the business cases remain in draft form, the Government and its officials need a safe space in which to develop and evolve options for savings and efficiencies.

The following considerations were taken into account:

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

• Disclosure of the information would support transparency and promote accountability to the general public, providing confirmation that the necessary work has taken place

• Disclosure to the public fulfils an educative role about the early stages in policy development and illustrates how the policy may evolve from the original proposals 

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information

• Officials need a safe space in which free and frank discussion can take place. The need for this safe space is considered at its greatest during the live stages of a policy. The requested documents are drafts and therefore disclosure at a time when these views are still being considered would negatively impact the Department’s ability to fully consider and incorporate options within the final policy

• Release of the information at this stage might generate misinformed debate in areas where future options have yet to be finalised. This would affect the ability of officials to consider and develop policy.

It should also be noted that once a policy is formulated and published, the public interest in withholding information relating to its formulation is diminished, however, the use of the exemption can be supported if it preserves sufficient freedom during the policy formulation phase to explore options without that process being hampered by some expectation of future publication.

Request D

In other information requests there has been reference to the “Office Modernisation Project” in relation to having a states HQ built at Ann Court in town. Presumably this project is part of the states restructure or has aims that align with it, as part of that project surely there has been some study into determining the requirements of a new states HQ, and trying to reduce government costs? I would be interested in any documentary evidence about that project and its aims and any formal reports, recommendations or analysis produced within that project.

Response D

Determination of the requirements of the final Government headquarters is under development. An outline business case is being developed which will include a range of options, aligned to the Government aims, and based on internal team structures and modern working practices. New team structures are subject to ongoing consultation with staff which are not yet completed.

A previous Freedom of Information request in relation to the Broad Street business case is accessible through the following link

Broad Street business case (FOI)

Articles applied

Article 23      Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1)     Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2)     A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.

Article 33(b) Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) the economic interests of Jersey; 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).

Article 35  Formulation and development of policies

Information is qualified exempt information if it relates to the formulation or development of any proposed policy by a public authority.