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STATES OF JERSEY
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REVIEW
(P.A.C.2/2022): EXECUTIVE RESPONSE
Presented to the States on 20th April 2022 by the Public Accounts Committee
STATES GREFFE
2022 P.A.C.2 Res.
FOREWORD
In accordance with paragraphs 64-66 of the Code of Practice for engagement between Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee' and the Executive', (as derived from the Proceedings Code of Practice) the Public Accounts Committee presents the Executive Response to its Review of Performance Management (P.A.C.2/2022, presented to the States on 8th March 2022).
The Committee is pleased to note that, of its 30 recommendations, the Government has accepted 29 in full and 1 in part and has provided detailed action plans to progress their implementation. It expects that its successor Committee will want to chart progress on this and other aspects of the Government's response to its Report in due course.
Deputy I. Gardiner
Chair, Public Accounts Committee
Page – 2 P.A.C.2/2022 Res.
PAC Review 2/2022 – Performance Management. Executive Response to PAC by 19th April 2022.
Summary of response:
The Chief Executive welcomes the Committee's acknowledgement of progress the Government of Jersey (GoJ) has made in embedding Service Performance Measures and the development of a consistent approach to monitoring them across the organisation. The Chief Executive also welcomes the recognition given to the introduction of a more co-ordinated approach to customer feedback and complaints handling across departments.
The Chief Executive agrees that good performance management processes should lead to better decision-making and improved overall performance. To this end, all Recommendations are accepted in their entirety, except for recommendation 15. Whilst this has been accepted in principle, it is considered that in terms of monitoring the delivery of recommendations, this would be better positioned as part of the function of the Operating Committee and Executive Leadership Team rather than Treasury and Exchequer, to ensure a consistent approach is taken across departments.
The Committee's report makes several helpful recommendations, and it should be noted that a number of recommendations have been significantly progressed already or are in progress. However, the Public Accounts Committee's review of performance management will further inform Government's commitment to drive a culture of continuous improvement across departments.
Action Plan
Recommendations | Action | Target date | Responsible Officer |
1. The Government's review of the Target Operating Model programme should include an assessment of governance and accountability lines in Departments and clarity on how they align with political accountability. | Accept The review Terms of Reference will include political accountability. A procurement exercise is underway to secure an independent person to review: | June 2022 | Director of People and Corporate Services |
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This will be presented to the SEB in June 2022. |
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2. The role of Chief of Staff and the lines of responsibility and accountabilities to the role should be clarified during the post- implementation review of the Target Operating Model Programme in order to ensure that there is no overlap in responsibilities. | Accept Further clarification of the role, lines of responsibility and accountabilities will be presented as part of the post-implementation review of the Target Operating Model Programme to demonstrate there is no overlap in responsibilities. | June 2022 | Chief of Staff Director of People and Corporate Service |
3. A service level agreement should be introduced between Health and Community Services and Children, Young People, Education and Skills to ensure consistency over the level of service expected between the two Departments. | Accept As part of the existing Memorandum of Understanding between the two departments A service level agreement will be developed to ensure consistency of practice and standards this will include operating protocols covering points of transition and areas of joint delivery such as in-patient care and transition from children's to adult services. This will include clarity of role, responsibility and accountability and set out transfer and management arrangements along with governance and financial oversight arrangements. | January 2023 | Group Director Children's Services (CYPES) Director Mental Health and Social Care (HCS) |
4. Given the concerns regarding the transfer of CAMHS between Departments, a formal review of this | Accept A formal review of the transfer to be included in the | June 2022 |
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specific TOM driven transfer should be included in the Government's overall review of the programme to determine whether the anticipated benefits have been realised. | TOM Review Terms of Reference as set out in response 1. This should look at the business case, the change management method, anticipated benefits and make recommendations for any improvements in achieving the benefits. |
| Director of People and Corporate Services |
5. There should be greater clarity over Government consultation processes, particularly when consulting with staff on structural change. In instances when feedback is not being taken forward, justification should be clearly provided and documented. | Accept - already in place The consultation approach already includes an end of consultation document that sets out the summary of responses received and reasons – examples provided | Complete | Director of People and Corporate Services |
6. When a need is identified for restructuring or modernising Government, the changes should always be accompanied by a baseline for change/business case. | Accept - already in place All TOM changes already require a business case to be approved by the SEB. Samples provided. | Complete | Director of People and Corporate Services |
7. There should be a standard requirement and processes for the capturing, validating and reporting of data on vacancy levels. | Accept Alongside the introduction of the ITS, a full establishment data cleanse and new process for maintaining structures/establishment between Treasury and People Services. This is driven by the job family' architecture within the ITS that allows managers to mange their own establishment. Vacancy reporting is a standard feature within ITS solution. In the meantime, we continue to seek to improve data as changes occur. | February 2023 | Director of People and Corporate Services Group Director Finance Business Partnering Analytics |
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8. For any future proposed structural changes, the Government should identify at the outset metrics and associated targets for measuring success and identify a clear process for post-implementation review. | Accept A revised Managing Organisation Change Policy and templates are being developed and will include greater baseline data and post-implementation review at 3- months, 6-months, and 12-months. | September 2022 | Director of People and Corporate Services |
9. The Government should undertake a review of the success of the contract with TDP in delivering the goals of Team Jersey. | Accept An end of contract report is being produced by the Programme Director for approval by the TJ Board as part of the handover to People and Corporate Services. | April 2022 | Programme Director Team Jersey |
10. For any future similar programme, the Government should identify relevant metrics for evaluation and associated data sources at the commencement of the programme. | Accept - in progress The People Strategy now has metrics and a baseline that can inform future programmes. The tender documentation / programme specification will identify required outcomes and metrics for evaluation. This includes metrics from the BeHeard survey and those set out in the People Strategy | Ongoing- within commissioning programmes | Director of People and Corporate Services |
11. The Government should ensure that all future major technology solutions and related projects are accompanied by sufficient reporting of delivery against contract Key Performance Indicators and that reporting is undertaken on benefits realisation or on progress made in delivering benefits in practice. | Accept - in progress All programmes and projects (as detailed in the Government Plan and Departmental Operational Business Plans) are required to report on their performance and progress monthly via the GoJ project reporting tool (Perform). Monthly reporting includes an assessment by the Project Manager of the project status overall, including its progress to budget, schedule and scope as set out and agreed in the latest business case. Senior Responsible Officers (SRO)s assigned to each project are responsible for reviewing | Already in place except for the Benefits Register which will be in place Q3 2022. |
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| this information monthly to ensure the project is tracking to expected deliverables and benefits. The GoJ Project Delivery Framework requires the definition of a benefits realisation plan with relevant benefit ownership. All projects are expected to follow this framework from the next applicable stage. In 2022, the CPMO will introduce a Benefits Register for the consolidated tracking and reporting of project benefits at the portfolio level. |
| Head of CPMO |
12. Following a recommendation made by the C&AG, the Government should develop an overall IT Strategy for the States of Jersey which shows how technology investment will support and impact services. | Accept - in progress A draft Technology Strategy has been written and is currently out for peer review. The final strategy will be published ahead of the elections. The Technology Strategy sets out the principles to be followed for the acquisition, utilisation, and continuing assessment of technology assets over their lifetime usage, and covers Platforms, Software, Hardware, Networks and Data Storage & Management. The existing process for the production and approval of Business Cases for technology investment requires each to articulate how requested investment supports and impacts services. | Business Case process already in place Technology Strategy is due June 2022 | Group Director Modernisation & Digital |
13. In delivering the OneGov vision of a joined up modern and efficient public service for islanders, there should be clear responsibility and reporting lines between | Accept - in progress A minimum governance framework for projects has been developed and introduced alongside the newly launched Project Delivery Framework(s). This | Complete |
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Modernisation and Digital (M&D) and Departments including Non- Ministerial. The code of engagement should be clarified to include responsibilities for ownership and management of digital projects between M&D and all Departments. | governance framework clearly defines the difference in role, responsibility and accountability between the Sponsoring State Body for the project and the Supplying State Body. M&D act as the Supplying State Body to departments with respect to technology projects, similar to the way in which IHE act as the Supplying State Body to departments for building/construction projects. Training on these roles was provided to 46 senior officers across Government in January 2022 and will continue throughout 2022 to embed new ways of working. This governance framework along with supporting materials will be published as part of a revision to the Public Finances Manual, Major and Other Project sections in June 2022. | PFM to be updated by June 2022. | Head of CPMO |
14. In maintaining and updating the Recommendations Tracker, the Government should provide more information to the Committee about how each recommendation is being prioritised. This should be included as part of the regular update sessions. | Accept - in progress Meetings with Departmental Senior Leadership Teams are in place on a quarterly basis, to discuss progress with recommendations. This includes how recommendations are prioritised; and how issues are resolved in terms of prioritisation should a recommendation span more than one department. Prioritisation of recommendations in also discussed at the Operating Committee as part of the quarterly Tracker update report. A review is being undertaken with Tracker working group (which includes departmental leads) to assess how to use the prioritisation field' more effectively within the "Tracker" to demonstrate how prioritisation of recommendations are agreed. | Complete Complete September 2022 | Chief of Staff |
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15. Where dependencies have been listed as a reason for non- completion of a recommendation on the Recommendations Tracker, there should be co-ordinated intervention from the Chief of Staff and the Directors General to ensure collaboration across Government to deliver on accepted recommendations. This should be a standing agenda item at Treasury and Exchequer Executive Leadership Team meetings. | Partially Accept- already in place Following the publication of C&AG report, Tracking Comptroller and Auditor General report on 22 December, a workshop took place, with the Tracker working group, to develop options for clarifying the definition of dependencies and how they are used. The reason for non-completion field was revised to require more specificity for outlining why recommendations are off-track. The dependency drop no longer exists as it has been replaced by specific reasons for lack of progress. Meetings with Departmental Senior Leadership Teams are in place on a quarterly basis, to discuss progress with recommendations. This includes issues arising from progress being delayed. The new reasons non- completion allows for better discussion challenge with departments. Treasury and Exchequer (T&E) Leadership Team meetings deal with recommendations pertaining directly or indirectly to T&E. Any issues relating to progress are reported as part of the regular quarterly update reports to the Operating Committee (OpCo) highlight issues in terms of activity relating to other departments which are not being progressed. If dependency issues cannot be resolved adequately at OpCo, they are escalated to the Executive Leadership Team for discussion and resolution. Both the Chief of Staff and the Head of Financial Governance actively monitor recommendation progress on a quarterly basis in advance of issuing an update | Complete Complete | Chief of Staff |
| report. This includes recommendations pending closure and lack of progress. |
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16. The Red-Amber-Green rating on the Recommendations Tracker includes Amber 1, 2 and 3 on a sliding percentage scale. These categories are too complex and should be simplified. | Accept Outlining progress of recommendations particularly those that highlight a number of improvements over a longer period of time can be complex, hence the delineation of the amber rating into 3 categories. However, it is accepted that these categories can appear complex. Therefore, this issue will be raised at the next Tracker working group meeting to determine the potential for improving the RAG status categories. with a view to setting up a small working group to develop viable options for simplifying the RAG status. | Tracker Working Group meeting May 2022 September 2022 | Chief of Staff |
17. The Government should undertake an analysis of the Recommendations Tracker and identify common themes. This would enable corrective action to be put in place in order to deliver more effectively on recommendations. | Accept - in progress Once the revised reasons for non-completion (as outlined in recommendation 15) are embedded with the working practices of departments, an analysis can be conducted which better identifies common themes relating to progress which will discussed at the quarterly workshop challenge sessions. | Ongoing | Chief of Staff |
18. All scrutiny recommendations should be incorporated into the Recommendations Tracker and formally reported on. | Accept - in progress All scrutiny recommendations are recorded on the Tracker in a similar manner to C&AG and PAC recommendations. Reporting on scrutiny recommendations will take place following the outcome of the General Election and a new Government and States Assembly is in place. | Complete Q4 2022 | Chief of Staff |
19. An update on the Recommendations Tracker should be provided to the Council of Ministers and the Scrutiny Liaison Committee on a regular basis. | Accept Reporting on the Recommendations Tracker to the Council of Ministers and the Scrutiny Liaison Committee States Assembly will take place bi-annually following the outcome of the General Election and a new Government and States Assembly is in place. | Q4 2022 | Chief of Staff |
20. Every patient should be provided with the opportunity to submit feedback via the MyExperience' survey managed by the Patient Advisory Liaison Service within Health and Community Services. | Accept Different methods are in place to ensure awareness of MyExperience' survey, including posters, slips in letters, asking patients after appointments, PALS site on gov.je, available at the back of patient leaflets template, put inside TTAs, in handheld notes in antenatal. Uptake could be better and continuing to work with services on improving engagement methods to get more feedback and consistency. | Q4 2022 | Chief Nurse |
21. A formal process should be initiated to ensure outstanding complaints by members of the public into any matter of administration by a Minister or a Department are investigated and appropriately addressed in a timely fashion. | Accept - already in place The Customer Feedback Policy is in place and outlines the formal process and timescales for complaints to be investigated and addressed. A manual and training is available for colleagues who handle complaints to ensure they understand the policy and what good complaints handling looks like. Where the States Complaints Board has findings after a hearing, the relevant Minister must present a report to the States within 12 weeks responding to those findings and must also make a statement outlining his or her response and any action proposed. | Complete | Group Director, Customer Services |
22. The Government should undertake another staff survey in 2022 which should include the same measures as the BeHeard survey. This will ensure that improvements in all areas can be identified as well as the areas that require greater attention, such as staff morale. | Accept Employee surveys are already planned for 2022 using the BeHeard (Best Companies) questions for comparisons. | November 2022 | Director of People and Corporate Services |
23. The Government should ensure communication of the People Strategy to all staff and ensure that related implementation plans are initiated. | Accept - in progress Communications about different aspects of the People Strategy are being rolled out. These are targeted but always link back to the values and/or four commitments within the strategy. The plan for 2022 has already been published and communications alongside this plan will take place. | On-going | Director of People and Corporate Services |
24. Given the significant changes to the Government's structure the Code of Conduct for the Civil Service (2002) should be updated in line with the People Strategy. | Accept A new Code of Practice was issued in 2021 in line with the people strategy and a new Code of conduct (capability and disciplinary) will be introduced shortly. | May 2022 | Director of People and Corporate Services |
25. The C&AG's recommendation that a formal policy should be documented in respect of the line management of the Chief Executive as an employee, including any specific delegation of responsibilities from the States Employment Board, should be implemented as a priority. This should explicitly address the process for the appraisal of the Chief Executive. | Accept – already in place The SEB regularised this position in summer 2021 with a revised scheme of delegation and Formal Policy for the CEO. | Complete | Director of People and Corporate Services |
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26. The Government should ensure that the 11 recommendations made by the C&AG and the recommendations made by PAC relating to the employment of the Chief Executive are fully implemented. | Accept - in progress Complete with one exception requiring legislative changes – see Appendix 1 below. | Complete (with one exception) | Director of People and Corporate Services |
27. The Government should prioritise the recommendations made by the C&AG on formalising the relationship between the Government and Non-Ministerial Departments including the high- level statement, Terms of Reference for liaison meetings, Memoranda of Understanding and Service Level Agreements. | Accept - in progress An Audit Committee has been established, Terms of Reference are in place for the Non-Ministerial Forum and high-level statements have been signed off for five Non-Ministerial Departments. Service Level Agreements with support departments (COO and T&E) still to be completed. | Complete (with the exception of SLA's to be implemented Q3 2022) | Chair of NMD Forum |
28. The Arm's length Body Oversight Board should ensure that the Government's work and relationship with Arm's Length Organisations and Specified Organisations is aligned with the key strategic priorities of the Council of Ministers and States Assembly. | Accept - in progress Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with States Owned Entities have already been revised and consulted on. They will be published by end of April 2022. Work is in progress with all other Arms-Length Organisations (ALOs) to improve the standard grant funded agreements, which will ensure the objective of the bodies are aligned with the Common Strategic Policies (CSPS). | April 2022 September | Chief of Staff Director of Treasury and Investment Management |
29. As the Government becomes more dependent on digital technologies, policy attention should be given to the importance of digital inclusion. | Accept - in progress | Ongoing |
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| This recommendation spans all Government departments and requires them to carefully consider digital inclusion in the design and delivery of services. The Digital Policy Unit' within the Department for the Economy' continued to promote digital inclusion within its programme of work. One such example is the Unit's work with telecommunications providers to ensure access to internet services for low-income households during the COVID-19 pandemic. The GOJ has a customer strategy that it works to and this has 4 key principles under a banner of ACE+' – Make it Accessible, Make it Consistent, Make it Easy and Think Ahead. Digital inclusion is a key part of ensuring our services are accessible to Islanders. Initiatives such as Closer to Home' and Connect Me support this objective. |
| Group Director Economy |
30. Government should introduce key targets for how it works in partnership with non-Government organisations, including key points of contact in services and clarity in how it deals with issues and complaints. | Accept - in progress Government of Jersey (GoJ) agree in principle to introduce clear outcome targets for how GoJ works with non-Government organisations including key points of contact in services and clarity in how GoJ deals with issues and complaints. However, this will need to be done in stages to take account of the differing relationships, for example commissioned functions versus grant functions, that are already in place with non- Government organisations, to ensure outcome targets reflect and align these divergent interfaces. |
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| Where Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are in place, there are targets and clarity of how we deal with issues. However, work is already underway in some areas to improve outcomes and relationships to adopt more of a partnership and relationship approach, with co- produced service design similar to that which is highlighted by Good Companions. GoJ has also established a number of thematic cluster groups to improve partnership and collaborative working across Civil Society and GoJ. These include,
GoJ will produce a framework to outline the timeline and work programme of how work will progress across the breadth of with the different types of organisations have agreed shared' targets with organisations over the longer term where appropriate. The Government of Jersey has recently relaunched a communications campaign to remind Islanders that we welcome feedback, including complaints, as an opportunity to learn and improve. We will work directly with our partners in non-Government organisations to ensure they are fully aware of our customer feedback policy and how we deal with complaints. Whilst digital | Ongoing September 2022 | Director of Local Services |
| modernisation is under development, the ability to access services by telephone or face to face' for those who are less digitally connected will remain in place through customer services other channel of interaction will be taken away. Face to face will still be possible through Customer Service appointments. | Ongoing |
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Recommendations not accepted
Recommendation Reason for rejection
Appendix 1 - R.26: Recommendations from C&AG in relation to the Chief Executive Officer
Rec No. | Recommendation | Response / Update |
R1 | Change the requirements of the Public Finances Manual to require consultation with the Treasurer and the relevant Accountable Officer prior toenteringan employment contract with non-standard clauses that could expose the States of Jersey to liabilities. | The following requirement will be added to the forthcoming Public Finances Manual section on the States Employment Board: "The Group Director of People and Corporate Services must also consult with the Treasurer of the States and the relevant Accountable Officer (with responsibility for the budget out of which any costs would be met) prior to the States Employment Board offering an employment contract with non-standard clauses that could expose the States of Jersey to future liabilities." |
R2 | Develop a suitable disciplinary policy and supporting process specific to the post of Chief Executive. | A Disciplinary policy specific to the post of Chief Executive has been developed to come into force prior to the start date of the substantive Chief Executive. |
R3 | Document formally a policy in respect of the line management of the Chief Executive as an employee including any specific delegations of responsibilities from the SEB. | The States Employment Board will update their scheme of delegation, issued in 2018, to incorporate the recommendation to formally document a policy in respect of the line management of the Chief Executive as an employee. |
R4 | Update policies and procedures for dealing with perceived and actual conflicts of interest of senior employees including the Chief Executive. | The Code of Practice, Standards in Public Service issued by the States Employment Board enhances the provisions within the Public Finance Manual to mandate the declaration of such matters. An online system will come into force for declarations in September 2021 |
R5 | Ensure that all decisions to enter into compromise agreements are supported by:
decision taken, including alternatives considered and the proposed key terms of the agreement; and
payments to be made, with a secondary check performed on such calculations. | Standard Operating Procedures have now been issued |
R6 | Undertake the proposed review of the original appointment process for the former Chief Executive as soon as practicable and implement the findings from the review in the recruitment and appointment process for the new permanent Chief Executive. | The SEB received and approved this report on 3rd September 2021 |
R7 | Ensure that all SEB minutes are prepared promptly and are approved at the next meeting where possible. | Minutes are now produced by the Greffe and circulated within a week of the meeting. No more than 2-meetings arrears have occurred. |
R8 | To enhance accountability, include in the Government Plan a short description of the scope of revenue income and expenditure budget lines. This recommendation was rejected for the reason stated opposite. | The scope of responsibilities of each Minister and department is already clearly set out in:
Minister.
Taken together this form sufficient basis for assessing whether expenditure has been undertaken for the purposes intended by the States Assembly. The specific point raised in the C&AG's report concerning which budget should meet the cost of severance payments is better addressed through the Public Finances Manual. This will be amended accordingly. |
R9 | To promote clarity of accountability for decisions and associated expenditure, undertake a fundamental review of the interaction between key constitutional pieces of | This review will take place as part of the amendments to The States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005 due to take place in 2022. |
| legislation, in particular the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 and the Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005. | The backlog of legislative drafting is proving problematic, and a new timetable is being prepared. |
R10 | Ensure that there is clear documentation of the nature and role of all advisors to the Government, including those who are unpaid. | A wholesale review of all independent advisers will be caried out to ensure the nature and role of all advisors to the Government, including those who are unpaid is documented. |
R11 | Ensure that the post of Chief Executive (and therefore the roles of Principal Accountable Officer and Head of Paid Service) is assigned clearly in writing during any future handover period between two chief executives. | This has been concluded with the handover to the current chief executive. |