Submission - Performance Management - Jersey Sport - 29 November 2021

Response - Public Accounts Review of Government of Jersey Performance Management

Date of Response

Monday 29th November 2021

Prepared By

Catriona McAllister, CEO

Summary of Board Paper

This paper provides a detailed response to the letter received by our Chairman, dated 5th November 2021. Our response to each question asked in the letter is outlined below.

Please explain how you work with the Government of Jersey to support your organisation?

• Jersey Sport was formed in June 2017 to act as an independent body for developing sport and physical activity. The Government of Jersey led the organisation's creation following independent consultation with sports bodies and bodies representing health and physical activity. The outcome was the requirement for an independent body to be a strong voice for sport and physical activity.

• Jersey Sport has a Partnership Agreement with the Government of Jersey (GoJ), and our contracting department is Economic Development.

• The particulars of our engagement and the specific services required annually are detailed within the Partnership Agreement. The CEO and the Sector Lead – Arts, Culture, Heritage and Sport - review the requirements annually.

• In practice, the Partnership Agreement is a commissioning document. All funding received by Jersey Sport is directed to a specific service the GoJ require the organisation to deliver as the arms-length provider of services for sport and physical activity.

• Jersey Sport developed a Business Case which was submitted and adopted into the Government Plan for the period 2020-23. The amount of funding received annually relates to the funding detailed in the Government Plan. The Jersey Sport Board are required to ensure the organisation delivers the required programmes and outcomes.

• Jersey Sport manages a range of Government grants to sports and schools. A significant amount of the money given to Jersey Sport is then given out through a detailed grant-giving process.

• The Government Plan business case process is the only opportunity the Board and CEO have to influence changes to the amount and purpose of funding received. Smaller realignment of funds can be requested through the Sector Lead – Arts, Culture, Heritage and Sport, annually or mid-year if required.

Quarterly reviews are undertaken with the Senior Leadership Team and the Sector Lead – Arts, Culture, Heritage and Sport and Head of Local Economy. Regular updates are also provided through the officers to the Assistant Minister for Sport.

Jersey Sport is externally audited and produces a detailed Annual Report, which is provided to the department and the Ministers. Jersey Sport provides an Annual Grant Assurance Statement and Governance Declaration. Jersey Sport also provides information on request to officers.

Jersey Sport has established a strong reputation as an expert partner and regularly collaborates with several GOJ departments to develop policy and collaborate on joint interventions. Jersey Sport is independent, and arm's length, but has become a key delivery partner of government.

An example is the Agreement Jersey Sport has with the IHE department to provide the Programme Director role to deliver the Government's Inspiring Active Places Strategy, which plans to invest £100m in new sports and wellbeing facilities over the next ten years.

Through the Partnership Agreement, Jersey Sport provides key services and programmes for CYPES, including school swimming lessons, cycle lessons and delivery of PE lessons and support for physical learning.

In addition to this, Jersey Sport is often commissioned on a programme-by-programme basis by Public Health and Customer and Local Services to provide health interventions relating to sport and physical activity.

Jersey Sport is regularly consulted by and provides input to all Government Departments on Policy and Implementation Plans related to sport and physical activity.

Jersey Sport developed the GoJ Inspiring an Active Jersey (IAJ) Strategy and are the lead agency for its delivery, working across all departments and the third sector to enact whole system change. IAJ sets out the GOJ's priorities for sport and physical activity and is the guiding framework for the work of Jersey Sport and all other agencies involved in health improvement through sport and physical activity. The partnership agreement and funding provided are directly linked to the delivery of IAP. The Partnership Officer is provided with all Board Papers and has a standing invitation to all Jersey Sport Board meetings.

Do you feel supported by GoJ?

Overall, Jersey Sport is supported by the Government of Jersey. However, the support across four and a half years has been patchy with many changes of Partnership Manager and a quick change of department to IHE only to be returned to the Economy department in a matter of months.

The frequent changes have caused inconsistency and irregular attendance at Jersey Sport Board meetings leading to the Officer

having a surface deep understanding of our priorities and outcomes. The recent appointment of Sector Lead – Arts, Culture, Heritage and Sport and a new Head of Local Economy have significantly improved this. It is hoped the days of being passed from pillar to post are behind Jersey Sport.

What would improve both your relationship, and the level of support you receive?

To deliver the Vision and Mission of the IAJ Strategy, which is to increase physical activity by 10%, by 2030, we must have aligned political support and oversight. There needs to be a greater departmental and political understanding of Jersey Sport's arrangements with the department.

Consistency of the partnership management arrangement is very important, but we hope this is now in place given the recent changes and the improvements we have seen.

The development of the Annual Partnership Agreement has regularly been late and often not in place until several months into the year it covers. The result of this is late payment of the first quarter grant leading to extreme cash flow pressures on the organisation. On more than one occasion, the organisation has been days away from insufficient funds to meet payroll. This situation annually forces Jersey Sport to delay payments to suppliers to ensure payroll can be covered in January and often February.

Jersey Sport is not permitted to carry reserves, and any underspend can only be retained if allocated against agreed programme delivery. This means the organisation does not have sufficient reserve to withstand late payments or significant, unpredictable events that require funds.

Late quarterly payments are also a regular occurrence throughout the year. The department has recently moved to bi- annual payments, and hopefully, this may help.

GoJ must stick to its contractual obligations to provide the Annual Partnership Agreement on time and make payments according to that Agreement. We must provide information on our performance and always do so on time, which should be reciprocated.

Have you noticed any changes to your relationship with the Government of Jersey since the introduction of Target Operating Models and/or the Jersey Performance Framework in 2018?

Honestly, none and Jersey Sport are largely unaware of the Target Operating Model or the Jersey Performance Framework. Neither has resulted in any changes to our arrangement with GoJ. At a guess, the improvements in officer oversight through the appointment of Sector Lead – Arts, Culture, Heritage and Sport, may in some way be linked to the Target Operating Model for the Economic Department.

If you had any complaints or issues, how did you raise it, what was the

Jersey Sport has raised several complaints to the Partnership Officer by email - mainly relating to the lateness of finalising the Partnership Agreement and late payments. Recently, these have

outcome, and were you satisfied?

been managed well, but in the past, they have required escalation to senior officers and the minister to resolve them.

How could that service be improved?

There should be a clear process for raising issues and escalating if required.

There needs to be more consideration given when requesting key information from Jersey Sport. It is not uncommon for Jersey Sport to be asked for vital information with next to no notice. For example, we are often asked for Government Plan information with extremely tight deadlines. Often urgent requests for information are sent to the CEO that needs to be replied to by return, requiring key work to be dropped to respond.

Please can you provide an indication of your level of confidence in the department that supports you, and tell us how that could be improved?

The new partnership arrangements have been in place for around six months and have significantly improved our reply to this question. It is felt that Jersey Sport can rely on the two officers now in place, and that the officers have made significant efforts to understand Jersey Sport and their partnership arrangements.