Recurring Themes: Decision Making

​The PAC is conducting a series of reviews examining the response of the senior leadership of the public sector to a number of 'recurring themes' identified in previous PAC and C&AG reports. This is the second review and is focused on the theme of 'decision making'.

Effective decision making is the key to securing value for money and delivering services efficiently. Poor decision-making has resulted in financial loss and inefficiency, exemplified in the C&AG reports of Jersey Innovation Fund (January 2017) and Future Hospital: Decision Making (November 2017). Although the PAC welcomed change programmes such as 'Team Jersey' and the Target Operating Model (TOM), proposed by the Chief Executive, the PAC is concerned that, by themselves, these initiatives will not lead to better decision making.

The PAC will review whether the Chief Executive has acknowledged problems in corporate decision making and if so, what he will do to address them. The Public Accounts Committee focus is on how decisions were made and the process by which a decision was arrived at, rather than the merits or otherwise of the decision itself.  It will ascertain what the Chief Executive and senior officers have achieved so far - and how that is objectively measured.