Scrutiny receives confirmation on Arm's Length Organisations’ Key Performance Indicators publication

20th July 2023

Following written correspondence with the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel (the Panel), the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Deputy Kirsten Morel, (the Minister), has confirmed that he will be requesting that Arm's Length Organisations' (ALO) publish their annual business plans and reports via their websites.

The Panel's questions set out within recent letters aimed to explore the setting and publication of ALO Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) further, and to scrutinise the Minister's policies regarding ALOs under his remit.

The Panel's questions covered topics including:

Setting KPIs for ALOs:

The Panel questioned the Minister on how the establishment of an Arm's Length Bodies Oversight Board (ALBOB) will ensure that ALO's are held to account and will meet the objectives within the Council of Minister's Common Strategic Policy.

The Minister advised that the ALBOB's intended purpose was 'to ensure good governance across all major Arm's Length Bodies' and added that his officers work closely with ALOs 'to ensure that their business plans align closely with Ministerial priorities'.

Publishing KPIs for ALOS:

The Panel noted the irregular publishing of KPIs, and asked whether the Minister will consider that all ALOs should be requested to upload their business plans and annual reports to their own websites, as well as a dedicated page on the gov.je site.
The Minister confirmed that he would write to the relevant ALOs to suggest that these documents be published on their website where this is not currently the case.

Minister's policies regarding ALOs:

The Panel asked the Minister to clarify which ALOs can be regarded as cost centres, and which can be partly or wholly self-funding, and why. This followed a statement by the Minister in a recent hearing in June 2023 that Digital Jersey, Visit Jersey, Jersey Heritage, ArtHouse Jersey and Jersey Sport are examples of current cost centres.
The Minister responded that the funding sources and revenue currently raised by each ALO will be set out in their respective Annual Reports and Accounts. He noted that he would be keen for some ALOs to explore 'new avenues for raising income independent of Government' to ensure that their work can be supported by 'multiple resource streams', although he acknowledged that this will not be possible in every case.

Deputy Moz Scott, Chair of the Panel, said:

"The Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the Minister's policies to ensure that there is complete clarity on Arm's Length Organisations' KPIs. The Panel feels strongly that good governance and a commitment to transparency are both vital when it comes to ALOs meeting the Council of Minister's policies, especially regarding the economy, financial services, tourism, sports, and culture. The Minister has confirmed that further changes will be considered following the ALO review anticipated to be concluded later this year and the Panel looks forward to learning more about this in due course."

The Panel's letter can be found here.

The Minister's response letter can be found here.

The Public Quarterly Hearing on 1 June with the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Deputy Kirsten Morel, can be watched here.

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