Statistics on staff vacancies in public sector

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY J.G. REED OF ST OUEN

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 19th JUNE 2007

Question

Would the Chief Minister advise the Assembly what the total number of public sector staff vacancies were for the six month periods to 30th June 2005, 31st December 2005, 30th June 2006, 31st December 2006 and 30th May 2007 within his Department and the non Executive Departments?

Of the staff posts transferred to and from his Department and the non Executive Departments during the above periods, how many were actually vacant at the time of transfer?

What funds were saved by Departments from unfilled posts in each period?

How many of the existing vacancies are currently budgeted for and how many vacancies have remained unfilled for a period of 12 months or more?

Question 1

Would the Chief Minister advise the Assembly what the total number of public sector staff vacancies were for the six month periods to 30th June 2005, 31st December 2005, 30th June 2006, 31st December 2006 and 30th May 2007 within his Department and the non Executive Departments?

Answer

The total number of vacancies is given below in respect of the Chief Minister's Department

and the non-executive departments -

umber Department 30 June 05 31Dec 05 30 June 06 31 Dec 06 30  May

07

Chief  Minister's 9.44 fte 8.35 fte 7.06 fte 6.2 fte 5.72fte department

Judicial 3.34 fte 4.74 fte 2.04 fte 3.94 fte 2 fte Greffe/Viscounts

States Greffe 10.46 fte 0 fte 7.13 fte 5.13 fte 2.32 fte Probation 1 fte 1.24 fte 4 fte 2.24 fte 2.24  fte

(incl.

trainee

posts) Official Analysts 1.44 fte 2.14 fte 1.61 fte 1.61 fte 1.47 fte Government 1 fte 0 0 0 0

House

Question 2

Of the staff posts transferred to and from his Department and the non Executive Departments during the above periods, how many were actually vacant at the time of transfer?

Answer

None of the posts transferred to and from Chief Minister's Department during the above periods were vacant at the time of transfer, with the exception of one HR post from the Treasury.

In December 2005, following the States Human Resources and ICT transformation programme, HR and ICT posts from each States department were transferred to the Chief Minister's Department.  CMD did not transfer any posts to other departments during this period.

The Law Draftsman formerly reported to the States Greffe, and in December 2005 the reporting line changed to the Chief Minister's Department. All posts were filled at the point of transfer.

Question 3

What funds were saved by the Chief Minister's Department from unfilled posts in each period? Answer

Whilst posts have been reported as unfilled, some of the work has continued to be performed in order to maintain services and this cover has been achieved through a number of ways  including temporary staff, acting up arrangements, overtime and short term interim staff. Therefore it is not possible to give an accurate figure in relation to any potential savings directly related to particular vacancies.

However, during the period 2005 – 2007, the Chief Minister's Department has undergone a major organisational restructure which, linked to the implementation of the Fundamental Spending Review and a programme of year- on-year efficiency savings, has achieved financial savings of £700,000 a year.  Whilst it is clearly desirable that savings should be achieved wherever possible, I am of the view that the Chief Minister's Department is under- resourced at the present time.

In the case of the Law Officer's Department the vacant' posts were to be funded from the Criminal Offences Compensation Fund.  The funding would only have been released as posts were filled.  There has been a delay in filling these as legal posts are difficult to fill.

Question 4

How many of the existing vacancies are currently budgeted for and how many vacancies have remained unfilled for a period of 12 months or more?

Answer

Six existing vacancies are currently budgeted for, and the number of vacancies unfilled (and budgeted) for a period of 12 months or more at May 2007.

* Posts are not budgeted for (may be filled soon from savings in Scrutiny budget).

** Trainee posts were vacant as there are insufficient funds to fill the posts.  Changes to the way Probation officers are trained may allow for funding to be made available in future