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STATES OF JERSEY
JERSEY PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK (R.163/2024): EXECUTIVE RESPONSE
Presented to the States on 21st November 2024 by the Public Accounts Committee
STATES GREFFE
2024 R.163 Res.
2
FOREWORD
In accordance with paragraphs 69-71 of the Code of Practice for engagement between Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee' and the Executive', the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) presents the Executive Response to the Comptroller and Auditor General's (C&AG) Report entitled: Jersey Performance Framework (R.163/2024, presented to the States Assembly on 14th October 2024).
Deputy I. Gardiner
Chair, Public Accounts Committee
COMMENTS
The PAC has given initial consideration to the Executive Response and will be producing full comments in due course. Given the relevance of the C&AG's report to the Budget 2025-2028 debate, the PAC has agreed to present the response now so that it is in the public domain ahead of the debate taking place rather than wait for it to be presented once it has had an opportunity to discuss and agree comments in full. The PAC would, however, express its immediate disappointment with the Government's response to this report at this time, noting that a number of recommendations have not been agreed, with limited rationale provided within the response. The PAC shall be addressing these responses further within its full comments.
R.163/2024 Res.
Chief Executive - Executive Response to C&AG Report: Jersey Performance Framework Summary of response:
The Chief Executive welcomes the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) report on the Jersey Performance Framework. It is noted that the C&AG has concluded that Jersey has been at the forefront of best practice in implementing a requirement to consider sustainable wellbeing in Government decision making.
The Government has made progress in this area this year, including structuring the new Common Strategic Policy around the three sustainable wellbeing themes and using the Island Outcome Indicators to help identify the areas prioritised for action. The presentation of the Island Outcome Indicators has also been improved through the publication of a new dashboard (Island Outcome Indicators chart). This is a valuable tool available to States Members, Government officials and anyone with an interest in this area.
It is acknowledged that much can be learned from larger jurisdictions like Wales and New Zealand, which are at the forefront of implementing wellbeing frameworks. However, in terms of proportionality, government must carefully consider what is appropriate for an island of Jersey's size. At a time of constrained budgets and prioritisation of front line services, difficult decisions have to be made about where to allocate resources. A number of the recommendations in this report therefore cannot be prioritised in the short term. However, they will be considered for longer-term development, should resources allow.
Work planned that should be prioritised / Areas for consideration
Progress is already being made on 2 items of work highlighted by the C&AG. With regards to improving Jersey specific data to support the Jersey Export and Cancer Strategies respectively, this work is already underway.
The report also identifies 5 areas for consideration. Further thought will be given to each of these areas. Any further actions will need to be proportionate to Jersey's size and scale and deliverable within available resources. Legislative changes will not be possible before the next election in 2026.
Risk
The risk of non-implementation was considered as part of preparing this response. The report, as a thinkpiece, identified areas for further development and enhancement. The risk profile of not implementing these recommendations is considered as low.
Risk assessment and decision rationale
Recommendations | Is the recomme ndation agreed? | Response | Improvem ent theme (If applicable) |
R1 Introduce a legislative requirement for the Council of Ministers to: • take into account the sustainable wellbeing (including the economic, social, environmental and cultural wellbeing) of the inhabitants of Jersey over successive generations in preparing the Common Strategic Policy: and • set out how the CSP takes that sustainable wellbeing into account. | Not agreed | This is not agreed at this time, on the basis that there is an existing legislative requirement in the Public Finances law, it is already common practice (even in the absence of legislation) and other work is currently being prioritised. In particular: • There is already an existing legislative requirement in the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 to consider sustainable wellbeing when allocating financial resources. • The last three Common Strategic Policies have committed to Sustainable Wellbeing and the Jersey Performance Framework, even without a legislative obligation to do so. • This recommendation would require changes to legislation. Legislative changes will not be possible before the next election in 2026. However, additional legislation in this area could be considered in the future and would be something for a future Council of Ministers to determine. | N/a |
R2 Introduce a statutory duty on the Principal Accountable Officer and Accountable Officers to take into account the sustainable wellbeing (including the economic, social, environmental and cultural wellbeing) of the inhabitants of Jersey over successive generations in providing advice to Ministers and in planning the provision of public services. | Not agreed | Not agreed on the basis that it is already common practice and other work is currently being prioritised. In particular: • In practice, officers are accustomed to building sustainable wellbeing and long term thinking into advice provided to ministers. This is recognised in the report in a number of places. • There are existing requirements in place through the Public Finances Manual to ensure that sustainable wellbeing is taken into account by Accountable Officers in procurement and expenditure decisions. | N/a |
Recommendations | Is the recomme ndation agreed? | Response | Improvem ent theme (If applicable) |
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| This recommendation would require changes to legislation. Legislative changes will not be possible before the next election in 2026. However, this is something that a future Council of Ministers may wish to consider. |
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R3 Require Accountable Officers to make a specific annual confirmation that they have considered sustainable wellbeing in discharging their responsibilities. | Not agreed | This is not agreed at this time. However, if the legislative option in R2 was pursued in the future then this would be considered further. | N/a |
R4 Document and publish the interaction between the Island Outcomes and Indicators and the UN SDGs and Indicators. | Agreed | Agreed. It is accepted that this would be helpful to document. The level of detail of this piece of work will be determined by the resources available. It will be limited initially to a high-level comparison of the Island Outcomes and SDGs. | SDGs |
R5 Develop further practical tools and guidance to support Accountable Officers in discharging their sustainable wellbeing responsibilities under the PFM and in developing policy and advice to Ministers. | Agreed in part | Agreed in part, on the basis of a short guidance note that builds on the Island Outcome Indicators dashboard and explains the approach to Sustainable Wellbeing in Jersey. The Island Outcome Indicators dashboard is the primary tool available to Accountable Officers. It is similar to the New Zealand framework cited in the report. It would not be proportionate to develop further tools in this area. However, a short guidance note will be developed for use by officers during policy development. This note will build on the dashboard and explain the approach to sustainable wellbeing. It will also include advice on determining suitable periods (e.g. long-term) and will identify existing areas of best practice (as per recommendations R7 and R8). | Policy developm ent process |
R6 Develop and implement appropriate training programmes for Ministers and officers to support them in implementing best practice in embedding sustainable wellbeing into policy development and decision making. | Not agreed | Not agreed, on the basis that other work is currently being prioritised and the guidance referred to in R5 will provide sufficient information for ministers and officers to understand sustainable wellbeing. | N/a |
Recommendations | Is the recomme ndation agreed? | Response | Improvem ent theme (If applicable) |
R7 Develop guidance on how to determine suitable periods (including long-term periods) to be considered in strategy and policy development. | Agreed in part | Agreed in part. This will be included as a short section in the guidance prepared in response to R5. | Policy developm ent process |
R8 Develop and share best practice on how to document consideration of the three domains of the Jersey Performance Framework in strategy, policy, business cases and decision documents. | Agreed in part | Agreed in part. This will be included as a short section in the guidance prepared in response to R5. | Policy developm ent process |
R9 All key Government strategy, framework, policy, planning or guidance documents that have financial consequences, should include a financial section that provides the reader with the high-level financial impact of the likely implementation. This is not to be viewed as a business case, but rather a financial context in which future business cases can be framed. | Agreed | The Public Finances Manual already includes a requirement for Treasury and Exchequer to be consulted before any proposal for policy or legislation with financial implication is submitted for approval (for example to Executive Leadership Team, Council of Ministers, States Assembly). This requirement will be expanded to make it a requirement for any such document to include written financial Implications. | Public Finances Manual |
R10 All key Government documents, including, as a minimum, Ministerial Decision cover sheets, should set out an explicit accountability statement of how the document will positively impact on the three domains of sustainable wellbeing (economy, community and environment) and how the delivery of the actions that lead to these outcomes will be assured. | Not agreed | Not agreed, on the basis that this would not be proportionate. However the existing ministerial submission template will be updated to include explicit consideration of community and environment, building on the existing section on economic impact. | N/a |
Recommendations | Is the recomme ndation agreed? | Response | Improvem ent theme (If applicable) |
R11 Update stakeholder consultation processes to include a requirement for engagement across all three domains of sustainable wellbeing in strategy and policy development, including an understanding of the impact of any trade- offs. | Not agreed | Not agreed. The stakeholder engagement process underwent changes last year. We are currently focusing on embedding this new guidance so that it is used consistently and would want to make sure that the existing process is working well, before introducing further changes. | N/a |
Prioritised improvement plan:
Action theme | Actions | Target date | Responsible Officer |
Sustainable Development Goals | Document and publish the interaction between the Island Outcomes and the UN Sustainable Development Goals | Q1 2025 | Assistant Director, Energy and Sustainability |
Policy development process | • A short guidance note on Jersey's approach to sustainable wellbeing will be developed to support the policy development process. This will include:
• Ministerial submission template to include explicit consideration of impact on community, economy and environment. | Q1 2025 | Group Director of Policy |
Public Finances Manual | Expand existing requirement in the Public Finances Manual regarding documenting financial implications of policy and legislation proposals. | Q1 2025 | Head of Financial Governance |
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