Reporting of headcount and vacancies.

STATES OF JERSEY

REPORTING OF HEADCOUNT AND VACANCIES

Lodged au Greffe on 12th September 2023 by Deputy M.B. Andrews of St Helier North Earliest date for debate: 3rd October 2023

STATES GREFFE

2023  P.69

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

1. to  request  the  States  Employment  Board  to  publish  every  six  months, commencing January 2024 –  

1. the headcount of each Government and non-ministerial department, to include a breakdown of full-time, part-time, fixed-term, zero-hour, and contracted staff;
2. the number of vacancies in each Government department; and
3. staff turnover in each Government department; and

2. to request the Minister for Treasury and Resources, in his capacity as the Shareholder Representative, to ensure that all States Owned Entities publish annually, commencing January 2024 –

1. the  headcount  of  full-time,  part-time,  fixed-term,  zero-hour,  and contracted staff; and
2. the number of vacancies and staff turnover; and

3. to request the Minister for Treasury and Resources to liaise with the responsible officer for each Arm's Length Organisation identified in the Public Finances Manual, to ensure that they publish annually, commencing January 2024 –

1. the  headcount  of  full-time,  part-time,  fixed-term,  zero-hour,  and contracted staff; and
2. the number of vacancies and staff turnover.

DEPUTY M.B. ANDREWS OF ST. HELIER NORTH

REPORT

The States Assembly have previously agreed two propositions of mine (P.107/2022 and P.31/2023), however more work needs to be done to publish data across all Government departments, Arm's Length Organisations, and States Owned Entities. This is why I am seeking States Assembly approval to publish headcount in conjunction with vacancies and staff turnover across each of these areas.

To address this, I am proposing a series of measures which I believe will improve the publication of transparent information. I am asking the States Employment Board to publish the following data starting from January 2024:

1. The Government are to publish headcount every six months to include the breakdown of full-time, part-time, fixed-term, zero-hour, and contracted staff. This will provide a more accurate and transparent account of staffing across each of the Government departments.
2. The number of vacancies across each government department is to be published every six months. This will facilitate a more transparent view of the growing, or shrinking, size of the Government.
3. report the turnover of staff across each government department to measure the retention of staff across each government department, to be reported upon every six months.

This measure of reporting should be extended to Arm's Length Organisations and States Owned Entities to ensure data on headcount, vacancies and staff turnover is published in a transparent manner.

As listed in the Public Finances Manual, the States Owned Entities are as follows –

Companies wholly owned by the States:

• Andium Homes Limited ("Andium")

• Jersey Post International Limited ("JP")

• JT Group Limited ("JT")

• The States of Jersey Development Company Limited ("SoJDC")

• Ports of Jersey Limited ("PoJ")

Companies partly (majority) owned by the States:

• The Jersey New Waterworks Company Limited ("JNWW")

• Jersey Electricity Plc ("JE")

As listed in the  Public Finances Manual, the Arm's Length Organisations are as follows –

• Digital Jersey

• Visit Jersey Limited

• Jersey Sport

• Jersey Arts Trust

• Jersey Arts Centre Association

• Jersey Opera House

• Jersey Heritage Trust

• Employ Jersey

• Jersey Finance Limited

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P.69/2023

• Jersey Business Limited

• Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service

• Jersey Consumer Council

• Jersey Citizens Advice Bureau

I am proposing all Arm's Length Organisations and States Owned Entities publish the respective data every twelve months starting from January 2024. The Public Finances Manual expresses that both Arm's Length Organisations and States Owned Entities are agreed on the principle that they work to achieve the "States' Strategic Priorities," therefore,  extending  this  level  of  reporting  to  these  areas  will  provide  further transparency as it will provide a full picture of the headcount, vacancies, and staff turnover  across  the  whole  public  sector  and not  simply  confined  to  the  remit  of Government departments.

Financial and staffing implications

There will be a staffing requirement across each government department to supply such information every six months to take effect from January 2024. States Owned Entities and  Arm's  Length  Organisations  will  also  be  required  to  report  the  following information on a per annum basis too.