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3.7 Deputy G.P. Southern of the Minister for Infrastructure regarding the standards of service providers of cleaning and gardening outsourced by the Department of Infrastructure: [OQ. 98/2018]
What measures, if any, are in place to assess and monitor the standards achieved by service providers of cleaning and gardening outsourced by his department? What provisions, in particular break clauses, are in place, should the requirements of any service agreements not be met?
Deputy K.C. Lewis (The Minister for Infrastructure):
Cleaning and garden maintenance contracts are monitored by the department contract managers. Regular meetings are held with each contractor to review performance and discuss and action any issues that may have arisen. The performance of each contract is monitored against a number of K.P.I.s (Key Performance Indicators) which are evaluated using the R.A.G. (Red, Amber, Green) indicators. My apologies for the jargon, the K.P.I.s Key Performance Indicators and the R.A.G. indicators are traffic lights, red, amber, green. The contract managers will also carry out a number of spot checks of each site. Where the department is dissatisfied with the performance of the contractor, they are notified and instructed to rectify any inadequate performance issues. Within each agreement there are a number of remedies for dealing with inadequate performance. These include, but are not limited to, deductions from the contract price, termination of parts of the agreement, or termination of the whole agreement.
The Deputy Bailiff :
The Connétable of St. Brelade . Sorry, I beg your pardon, Connétable . You did not put your light on, Deputy ; I had assumed you did not want a supplementary, but if you want one do have one.
- Deputy G.P. Southern :
I was a bit slow to rise. I was just looking at my figures. The answers to question 21, written question, reveal that some 88 staff were outsourced and removed from employment by the States, the vast majority of which were front-line staff, 80 of them in manual worker grades 1 to 3. How many of the staff employed by outsourced companies are now engaged in delivering these services?
Deputy K.C. Lewis :
I do not have that information to hand, but more than happy to get hold of that for the Deputy . I know there was quite a bit of redeployment, obviously before my tenure, but I will get that information for the Deputy .
- Connétable M.K. Jackson of St. Brelade :
Would the Minister consider that the philosophy of outsourcing is better in terms of standards than the previous regime where these things were managed in house?
Deputy K.C. Lewis :
Into the lion's den. No. [Approbation] I am not a great fan of outsourcing, I am afraid. A lot of people lost their jobs. When I was last there - it was Transport and Technical Services - a lot of people maybe did not get the best start in life and had certain jobs, who will never work again and that is very sad. A lot of people had a good job, they had pride in their work and they were an asset to the community and many of which will never work again. But, quite a few were redeployed and in other departments quite a few got jobs with the new contractors. But, I think the bottom line is I am not a fan of outsourcing. [Approbation]
- Deputy M. Tadier :
Based on the evidence that the Minister has seen - whether it is anecdotal or hard evidence - does he believe that the quality of services provided from outsourced work and workers has gone up, down, or stayed about the same in general terms?
Deputy K.C. Lewis :
In general terms I would say it is pretty mixed what I have seen at the moment. I think the Deputy needs to ask me this question in 6 months' time, when I have researched every aspect of the whole system properly. But, as I say, I am not a great fan of outsourcing, but some people are doing an excellent, first-class, job, others not. But, as I have mentioned in my original answer, this is being monitored and the key performance indicators there, they use a traffic light system, red, amber, green. We are where we are and I think some are doing a good job, some not so, but they will be pulled up.
- Deputy G.P. Southern :
The Minister mentioned that, in certain cases, where standards have been breached, the payments could be suspended. Has that occurred, on any occasion, in the last 2 years?
Deputy K.C. Lewis : Not to my knowledge.