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STATEMENT TO BE MADE BY THE CHAIR OF THE GOVERNMENT PLAN EFFICIENCIES REVIEW PANEL ON TUESDAY 25th FEBRUARY 2020
Commencement of the Review Panel's Work
During the passage of the Government Plan through this Assembly, Members will recall the concerns expressed about the savings accompanying the efficiencies plan intended to save £100 million by the end of 2023, including £40 million to be found in 2020 alone.
As extensively debated, and following significant compromise, in October last year, the Assembly requested the Scrutiny Liaison Panel to "undertake, commission or oversee" detailed 6-monthly assessments of the impact on the delivery of public services of the savings previously made and those projected.
During those debates, Deputy Higgins suggested that we should establish a separate Scrutiny Panel to scrutinise the impact of these savings, and I am therefore delighted to announce that the Government Plan Efficiencies Review Panel has now launched, with myself as Chair, assisted by the Constable of St. Peter , and Deputy Higgins of St. Helier , as Vice-Chair.
We held our first meeting on 30th January 2020 and have approved our review's terms of reference and scoping document. Our intention is to release our first report by 30th June 2020. We seek to appoint a suitably qualified advisor, probably an academic, to assist the Panel with our analysis and in the longer term to develop a template which will enable efficient long-term assessment.
This new structure, as outlined in Government Plan: assessment of planned savings' (P.88/2019), has scope to examine efficiency savings across the whole of government. We will need to ensure that there are clear channels of communication are in place and effective to avoid any risk of supplication.
These are lofty ambitions for a Panel of only 3 political members so I would welcome interest from any Members who may wish to join us in this important task.