Public Accounts Committee scrutinises Chief Executive on performance of Chief Officers

2nd February 2023

​Yesterday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) held a Quarterly Public Hearing with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Government of Jersey, Suzanne Wylie. During the Hearing, the PAC questioned the CEO on key areas of performance management for the Government, including: 

Digitisation of services: 

• The PAC heard that a new working group has been established, with a Digital Strategy coming forward soon. The PAC expressed disappointment that more clarification was not given on the contents and timeline of the Digital Strategy. 
• Revenue spend for IT modernisation projects falls in line with the business case previously made from 2020 to the end of 2022.
• To explore what is deliverable in terms of automatic voter registration in time for the 2026 election. 

Non-Government Organisations and Arm’s Length Organisations (ALOs): 

• The PAC questioned the CEO on whether a framework has been produced to introduce key targets for non-government organisations and ALOs. The PAC heard that an oversight body has been set up within government to facilitate this. 
• The oversight group has created new memorandums of understanding between the Government and ALOs as well as policy targets with key performance indicators attached, which will be reviewed each quarter. 
  
• Better communication with ALOs is a key focus for the Government going forward. 

Appraisal of Chief Officers and objective setting: 

• The process of performance appraisal for Chief Officers was confirmed by the CEO. Chief Officers are responsible for delivering the objectives of the ministerial departments and report directly to the CEO. 
• Performance management for Chief Officers mirrors the rest of the organisation. 

Deputy Lyndsay Feltham, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: ‘We thank the Chief Executive Officer for her responses to our questions. We are pleased to hear that performance management for the Chief Executive Officers falls in line with the rest of Government and will continue to hold Senior Officials to account in regards to the implementation and delivery of their stated objectives. However, we’d hoped that the Government would have achieved PRESS NOTICE greater efficiency in delivering a clear and timely Digital Strategy. We look forward to seeing this soon with a high degree of quality.’ 

A full recording of the public hearing can be watched here.

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