Efficiency savings

31

WQ.422/2019

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER

BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 8th OCTOBER 2019

Question

Will the Chief Minister –

1. inform members what measures, if any, he has under consideration to meet the target figure for "efficiencies to be allocated" in Summary Table 3(i), Proposed 2020 Revenue Heads of Expenditure' in Government Plan 2020-2023' (P.71/2019);
2. state when he will be in a position to inform members what the savings involved in delivering the full £40 million of efficiencies will be;
3. advise what evidence, if any, he has to demonstrate that any impact of the efficiencies on Health and Community Services has been mitigated; and
4. advise to what extent, if any, the efficiency savings for Health and Community Services in particular will involve a reduction in staff numbers either through non-replacement of retirees or through delaying recruitment to vacant positions?

Answer

1. The Council of Ministers received proposals from officers for c£32.7m of efficiencies on the 18th September, with Scrutiny receiving this information on 27th September. The Council will receive proposals for a further c£7.3m of efficiencies on 16th October bringing the total of efficiencies identified for 2020 to £40m, as set out in the Government Plan. Proposals include the allocations to 2020 Revenue Heads of Expenditure.
2. An Efficiencies Plan will be presented to the Council of Ministers for approval on 16th October for intended publication on or about the 21st October. This plan will describe in detail how £40m of efficiencies will be delivered in 2020 and will set out the activities, the departmental and Ministerial impacts. The plan will also describe the approach to delivery of efficiencies over the remainder of the Government Plan. The publication date provides over five weeks of review time ahead of the start of the Government Plan debate.
3. Health and Community Services have taken a robust and unwavering approach to quality impact throughout the development of their programme of modernisation. All projects have been developed through an intelligence and people led, data driven approach and have made extensive use of benchmarking with peer organisations to inform potential areas of work. All proposals go through a comprehensive Quality Impact Assessment' which are signed off by the relevant professionals to ensure that the organisation has assurance that any risks are identified, managed and mitigated. If a proposal is deemed to have a potential negative impact on services; whether that be quality, service delivery or the workforce, they are not progressed. Any identified low level risks are managed on an ongoing basis through the development and delivery of the project.
4. The Department's TOM may necessitate the use of such means, but this will be determined as the year progresses and, in all cases, clinical need will remain paramount. That said, in the longer term, we do expect headcount to reduce in some areas as a consequence of improvements in services, systems and processes, including as a result of investment of modern technology, which will automate a range of tasks that are currently done manually and through ensuring that we make the most productive and best value use of our services for the benefit of islanders.