Letter - CSSP to Chief Minister re Written Questions - Proposed Government Plan 2024-2027 Review - 23 October 2023

States Greffe

Deputy Kristina Moore Chief Minister

BY EMAIL

23rd October 2023

Dear Chief Minister,

Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel Government Plan 2024-27 Review – Written Questions

The Panel is reviewing the Government Plan 2024-27 and would be grateful if you could please consider the following written questions and provide a written response by no later than 5pm on Friday 3rd November 2023 to inform the Panel’s review. Please be aware that it is the Panel’s intention to publish the response it receives on the States Assembly Website.

Income and Expenditure

1. The Cabinet Office is projected to have approximately £5.1 million of income earned through operations in 2024. Please could you provide detail about the source of this income?
2. In a table format, if possible, please could you confirm the number of FTE (full time equivalent) roles, number of staff employed and current open vacancies as of 31st October 2023 in the following services:

1. Modernisation and Digital
2. People and Corporate Services
3. CEO and Ministerial Office
4. Communications
5. Statistics and Analytics
6. Public Policy
7. Public Health
8. Strategy and Innovation
9. Delivery Unit and Governance
10. Arm’s Length Functions

3. Please could you provide a more detailed breakdown of the following expenditure, as detailed in the statement of comprehensive net expenditure for the Cabinet Office:

1. Staff Costs
2. Other Operating Expenses
3. Grants and subsidies payments

Value for Money Savings

4. The previous Government Plan 2023-26 identified £273,000 of value for money savings for the Cabinet Office in 2023. Are you able to confirm if those savings have been made or are on track to be achieved and where savings were identified?
5. The Cabinet Office has targeted £975,000 of value for money savings in 2024. Please could you provide a breakdown of where those savings will be achieved.

Information Technology Programme

6. The capital programme includes Information Technology for which a proposed estimate of £20,162 has been allocated for 2024 in the Government Plan 2024-27. The previous Government  Plan  2023-26  estimated  an  allocation  of  £9,925  for  2024  which  was substantially less, can you explain why the previous estimate for 2024 varies significantly from what is now being proposed for 2024?

a)  Considering the large variation in the estimates, what impact, if any, would this increase in estimation for 2024 have on the overall funds for 2024?

7. No funding allocations for the Integrated Technology Solution (Releases 1, 2,3 and 4) are in the Government Plan 2024 -27. Can you confirm that these Major Projects will reach completion in 2023?

1. Can you identify the value and tangible outcomes accomplished from funding these Major Projects to completion to date and how this has been measured, considering the significant combined total cost of over £62 million?
2. As a result of the completion of the Integrated Technology Solution what key services are now being delivered to Islanders that were not previously possible and what tangible benefits are Islanders receiving as a result?
3. Have all objectives of the Integrated Technology Solution been realised and, if not, which have not and what is the impact thereof?
4. An aim of the Integrated Technology Solution was to provide greater efficiency – has this been realised and, if so, please can you provide examples to demonstrate this?
5. Has the Integrated Technology Solution delivered value for money, please provide any detail to support your response?
6. What challenges were identified when delivering this Major project and what lessons have been learned as a result?

Major Projects

8. A new Major Project within the Government Plan 2024-27 is Cyber Programme 2.0, this estimates a total cost allocation of £10,621 million. This is additional investment for a second Major Project to strengthen Cyber Security across government.

1. With regard to the funding provided for in the Government Plan 2023-26 for the first Cyber Programme, can you detail the spend to date, the outcomes achieved as a result and whether all the intended aims have been met within 2023 within the total project cost?
2. Cyber Programme 2.0 intends to build on the foundations of the Cyber Programme 2023, are you confident that the additional total estimated investment of £10,621 million will be efficient to meet the aims and objectives of the Major Project?
3. Can you provide further details about this Major Project (minimal detail is provided in the Government Plan)?
4. Is there a business case for this major project, if so, can it be shared with the Panel?
5. For 2024, an estimated allocation of £1,096 million has been provided, can you outline how this allocation will be used in 2024 and the anticipated outcomes as a result?
6. What tangible impact will this major project have on Islanders and Island life?
7. How does this project align with the Common Strategic Policies and your Ministerial priorities?

9. A further new Major Project within the Government Plan 2024-27 is Digital Services Platform are you confident that the total estimated investment of £6,257 million will be efficient to meet the aims and objectives of this Major Project and have any concerns been identified?

1. Digital  Services  Platform intends  to  build  on  the  prior  investments  in  service digitalisation. Has Service Digitisation 2 (previously within the Grouped Head of Expenditure - Other Government Wide IT Projects) become this Major Project?
2. Can you provide further details about this Major Project (minimal detail is provided in the Government Plan)?
3. Is there a business case for this major project, if so, can it be shared with the Panel?
4. For 2024, an estimated allocation of £2,194 million has been provided, can you outline in further detail how this allocation will be used in 2024 and the anticipated outcomes as a result?
5. What tangible impact will this Major project have on Islanders and Island life?
6. How does this project align with the Common Strategic Policies and your Ministerial priorities?

Other Government Wide IT Projects

10. With regard to the funding provided for in the Government Plan 2023-26 for Service Digitisation 2 of £1,219 million in 2023 within the Grouped Head of Expenditure - Other Government Wide IT Projects, can you detail the spend to date, the outcomes achieved

as a result and whether all the intended aims have been met within 2023 within the allocated funds?

11. A  further  £500,000  for  Service  Digitisation  2 was  estimated  for  2024  within  the Government Plan 2023-26. This is not shown within the Government Plan 2024-27 Grouped Head of Expenditure - Other Government Wide IT Projects as in the preceding Government Plan, why is this the case?
12. Please  can  you  provide  an  update  on  the  progress  of  the  Electronic  Document Management Solution in 2023 and provide a breakdown of how the £2,180 million has been spent?
13. The Records Transformation Programme (formally known as the Electronic Document Management Solution in the previous Government Plan) has been allocated an estimated £1,277 million for 2024 in the Government Plan 2024-27. However, no further allocation for 2024 was made in the previous Government Plan 2023-26, can you explain the rationale for this?
14. Can you detail how the £1,277 million allocated to Records Transformation Programme will be spent in 2024, whether you are confident that the estimated funding will be adequate to meet the projects aims and whether any concerns have been raised?
15. As no further allocation has been estimated for 2025 onwards in the Government Plan 2024-27 for the Records Transformation Programme, is it expected that this will reach completion in 2024?

Replacement Assets and Minor Capital

16. With regard to the £3 million that was allocated to the Cabinet Office for Replacement Assets and Minor Capital in 2023, can you detail the spend to date and whether this funding was efficient to meet the aims and objectives for 2023. Will any of the allocated funding remain at the end of 2023 and if so, will this be carried over into 2024?
17. Replacement Assets and Minor Capital for the Cabinet Office is estimated at £2.5 million for 2024. Can you please provide a specified breakdown of how this funding will be allocated within the Cabinet Office and for what purposes?

Revenue Expenditure Growth – Government Plan 2024-27 Statistics Jersey – Administrative Data Linkage Team

18. Can you confirm whether you are confident that the £393,000 will be sufficient to deliver the necessary requirements for 2024?
19. How does this investment align with your Common Strategic Policies and Ministerial Priorities?
20. Can you provide a breakdown of how the estimated funding for 2024 will be spent?
21. Why is the allocated estimate for 2024 less than that for subsequent years - 2025, 2026 and 2027?

22. Do you have any concerns or anticipate any challenges in respect of this project?
23. What tangible impact will this project have on Islanders and Island life?
24. The Annex to the Government Plan 2024-27 notes that this project may be able to deliver on the Panel’s recommendation 2 in S.R.20/2022. Can you detail the determining factors for this to be successfully accomplished, the extent to which the recommendation would be actioned and the likelihood of it being achieved in part or entirely achieved as a result of this investment?

Additional Revenue Programmes - Government Plan 2023-26

25. For the listed Additional Revenue Programmes for 2023, where estimated allocations are provided for 2024, can you confirm that these will be continued into 2024 and in line with the estimations provided for 2024?
26. Please can you provide a progress update in respect of these and a breakdown of the spend to date for 2023?
27. Where challenges have been identified for these to date, can you provide further detail?

Yours Sincerely,

Deputy Sam Mézec

Chair

Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel