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MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT: DEPARTMENTAL STRUCTURE - ALLOCATION AND MONITORING
OF PUBLIC SECTOR MANPOWER NUMBERS
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Lodged au Greffe on 29th October 2002 by the Policy and Resources Committee
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STATES OF JERSEY
STATES GREFFE
150 2002 P.192
Price code: A
PROPOSITION
THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -
to r e fe r to their Act dated 24th July 2002 in which they approved the departmental structure for the ministerial
system of government, together with the transitional arrangements for the period leading up to the introduction of the ministerial system, and -
to a g r e e th a t responsibility for the functions currently exercised by the Human Resources Committee in
relation to the allocation and monitoring of public sector manpower numbers should be transferred from the Human Resources Committee to the Finance and Economics Committee with effect from 12th December 2002.
POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Notes: 1. T h e Human Resources Committee's comments are to follow.
2 . T h e Finance and Economics Committee's comments are to follow.
REPORT
On 24th July 2002 the States approved an amended proposition of the Policy and Resources Committee on the Machinery of Government: Proposed Departmental Structure and Transitional Arrangements' (P.70/2002), and agreed that there should be ten departments in the ministerial system of government, each headed by a minister. As a part of that decision, it has been agreed that there will be a Treasury and Resources Department which will assume the existing core responsibilities of the States Treasury, including resource allocation and payroll matters, and take on a number of other related functions, including the allocation and monitoring of States manpower numbers.
The States also decided on 24th July that for the transitional period, from the appointment of Committees in December 2002 until the introduction of the ministerial system, the number of committees of the States will be reduced from 25 to 15. During this period committees will be planning and implementing those changes that need to be in place before the ministerial system comes into effect.
Responsibility for control over the number of States employees currently rests with the Human Resources Committee, following a decision of the States in April 1979 to delegate control over the number of public sector employees to the then Establishment Committee. Since that time, successive Establishment Committees, and more recently the Human Resources Committee, have sought to balance the competing demands that have been made by administering Committees for additional staff against what has been considered appropriate from a corporate point of view, and bearing in mind the general needs of the Island and the States of Jersey.
On 22nd October 2002 the States approved the States' Reform: Reorganization of Committees (Transitional Arrangements) (Jersey) Act 2002 (P.152/2002), and as a part of this decision it was agreed that the functions of the Human Resources Committee should be transferred to the Policy and Resources Committee, including the manpower control function. Although the Policy and Resources Committee has the option of delaying the transfer of the manpower control function to the Finance and Economics Committee until the transitional period, it believes that it would be appropriate for the transfer to take place at the time of the appointment of the new committees in December 2002.
The Policy and Resources Committee considers that there are distinct advantages to be gained from this earlier transfer. First, as was made clear in P.70/2002, the allocation and monitoring of manpower numbers is essentially a resource function, and is one which sits comfortably with the resource allocation responsibilities of the Finance and Economics Committee. Manpower control is a key - perhaps the key - resource function. The greater part of all States spending is consumed on the States most valuable asset - its people. The rationale for the change agreed in July was that this resource function should not continue to be separate from the finance function generally. Given the fundamental spending review now in train, and the essential need to limit public spending, it makes little sense not to make the change now.
There is the further consideration of workload. The allocation and control of manpower numbers is one of the major responsibilities of the Human Resources Committee, which has an average of five applications for additional manpower to consider each month. The Policy and Resources Committee believes that it would be appropriate for the manpower control function to be transferred to the Finance and Economics Committee in December in order that it may be more able to focus on its own core responsibilities. Under these arrangements the new Finance and Economics Committee would have responsibility for manpower control from the moment that it takes office, and any decisions relating to manpower would therefore be directly informed by the wider context of that committee's work.
Financial and manpower implications
The States Treasury and the Human Resources Department are currently discussing the detailed arrangements for the allocation of resources to support the manpower control function.
There are no additional financial or manpower implications arising from this proposition.