Corporate Services - Letter from the Chief Executive re Public Hearing on 25 July - 27 July 2018

Chief Executive Officer & Head of Civil Service Office of the Chief Executive, States of Jersey  Cyril Le Marquand House, The Parade  

St Helier, Jersey, JE4 8UL  

Tel: +44 (0)1534 440400

Senator Kristina Moore

Chair, Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel Scrutiny Office

Morier House

St Helier

JE1 1DD

27 July, 2018

Dear Senator Moore ,

Re: Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel hearing on 25 July 2018

At the Panel hearing on Wednesday, I promised to provide further information on two issues: the number of residency licences granted this year, and for what purpose; and the advertising and recruitment process for senior roles.

Residency Licences

Between January and June 2018, a total of 71 staff have joined the States of Jersey either on a licence, or with a registered' residency status.

Of the 71 new starters, 46 (64.8%) are Health Professionals, nurses, midwives and doctors.

The remainder are made up of:

• Teachers, head teachers and deputy heads
• Lecturers
• Residential Child Care Officers
• Police
• Civil Servants

Of the 22 appointments made to senior civil service roles this year, 18 are internal and only four are external and require a licence.

Advertising for recruitment

We advertise extensively, both in Jersey and internationally, to attract the most experienced and capable applicants possible for the roles to which we are recruiting externally. In this regard, we have done the following:

• We contracted with Penna plc, following an open tender, to support the recruitment process, through both candidate search and open advertising.
• Penna created a "oneteamjersey" recruitment website, which provides extensive information about all live senior vacancies and how to apply for them, the States of Jersey transformation programme and, for candidates from overseas, information about living and working in Jersey.
• We engaged local recruitment agencies and asked them to inform any potential local candidates about the oneteamjersey website, so they could find out more and apply.
• Every role has been advertised in the following places:

• gov.je website
• Jersey Evening Post (six half-page colour advertisements in the printed paper)
• Jersey Evening Post recruitment website
• States of Jersey intranet job pages
• Specialist recruitment websites (including the Sunday Times, and The Guardian, the Municipal Journal)
• LinkedIn.

I can therefore confirm, in answer to Deputy Perchard's specific question, that all roles have been advertised on gov.je on the jobs pages. Once the deadline for applying has passed, as with all jobs the online advertisement is then removed. However, the job descriptions for the roles remain on the oneteamjersey website after the deadline for applications has passed, to assist candidates as they go through the process.

I can also confirm that all appointments followed the Jersey Appointments Commission code of conduct in fair and open competition. All interview panel members were involved in the long-listing and short-listing of candidates, and appointments were made following a combination of face-to-face interviews and extensive and evidence-based technical and psychometric assessments over two days. Relevant Ministers also met Director General candidates. All successful candidates were appointed unanimously by the interview panels, which included international subject matter experts and independent Jersey specialists.

Finally, I would also like to confirm some points relating to questions about publicising salaries for all senior roles as part of the recruitment process.

In line with international common practice, we do not include the salary ranges for senior recruitment in advertisements or in the job description. This is to avoid inflated salary expectations among candidates, who naturally look to the top of the salary range. The salary actually offered for each role is dependent on the size of the role, the experience of the candidate and the market rate for the role. The salary offered is subject to discussion with the successful candidate, and is within approved States of Jersey salary bands for senior directors.

I am copying this information to all members of the Panel, and also to all States Members, to provide clarity on these matters, since they have been of significant media interest over the past 48 hours.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Parker

Chief Executive and Head of the Civil Service

Direct dial: 440397 Email: c.parker@gov.je  

cc Deputy Ahier , Deputy Perchard, Connétable Vibert , Connétable Shenton-Stone cc States Members