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1240/5(3544)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY R.G. LE HÉRISSIER OF ST. SAVIOUR.
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 6th NOVEMBER 2007
Question
"Would the Chief Minister specify the work carried out by the three Assistant Ministers who were tasked to identify cost cutting measures and advise what savings, if any, have resulted to date, and in what areas, from their activities?"
Answer
I would refer the Deputy to my answer to his similar question on 9th October 2007 which set out the current position.
The Assistant Ministers commenced their review earlier this year. Since then they have had a number of meetings with officers and reviewed a significant amount of detailed information relating to particular departments. This was done to familiarise themselves with spending patterns in order to identify possible areas for detailed examination. This included consideration in detail of budget against actual figures for a particular department, with subsequent follow up. They have also reviewed detailed information on staffing numbers and costs and have started considering the structures of certain departments.
However, the Assistant Ministers found that they did not have adequate resources, which, coupled with constraints on their time due to the demands of their official roles and responsibilities, meant that they were unable to progress as quickly as they would have liked. As was stated during the debate on the Annual Business Plan, this is in the process of being addressed with the setting up of a single group to look into States expenditure in conjunction with the Public Accounts Committee. The Assistant Ministers will join this new process with a number of ideas and suggestions - not least of which are some suggested by the Deputy himself a few weeks ago.
The Assistant Ministers made it very clear at the commencement of their review that they did not expect to identify specific future savings or produce reports for some considerable time, and certainly would not be in time for the 2008 Business Plan.