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WQ.194/2018
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER
BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 9th OCTOBER 2018
Question
What assessment, if any, has the Chief Minister made of the value for money of spending over £3 million per annum on communications, as detailed in the November 2017 Audit and review of communications in the States of Jersey'?
Answer
The initial audit of communications carried out in 2017 identified a range of external contracts for communications-related services provided to States of Jersey departments. However, the report indicated that the figures quoted needed caveating and that further work was needed on them, saying:
"The audit process has identified 38 distinct agencies/suppliers being used by the States of Jersey for communications-related support, much of which is for marketing (see Appendix A), although a significant amount is related to web and is not necessarily attributable to communications. We asked Supply Jersey for details of spend on these external suppliers, and in the time allowed, they were able to provide some information, which we were unable to verify. This will therefore require a further, detailed exercise to ensure that the full extent of communications-related spend on external agencies is understood, and the savings that can be made by bringing the work in house."
It has since been identified that a significant portion of the costs listed by Supply Jersey related to technical web-support, rather than specifically for communications, and these costs should be excluded from the figures. For instance, the costs of web support from one supplier amounted to £2.2 million over the three years 2015-17.
As part of the modernisation of the States of Jersey, a new Communications Directorate is being formed, and new team members have started to join the Communications Directorate within the past five weeks, and will be following up on the outstanding 60 actions arising from the audit, including a more detailed review of external suppliers and costs.