Submission - Review Annual Report and Accounts 2023 CEO written questions - 21 June 2024

Deputy Raluca Kovacs

Lead Member States Annual Report and Accounts 2023 Review Public Accounts Committee

BY EMAIL 21 June 2024

Dear Deputy Kovacs

Public Accounts Committee review of the States Annual Report and Accounts 2023

Further to the letter dated 3 June 2024 regarding the Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) review into the States Annual Report and Accounts for 2023, responses to questions, and requests for further information, can be found below.

1. Why are 45 % of service performance measures falling short of target?

Detailed narrative on performance, both achieved and not achieved, is set out in the Service Performance section of each Departments Annual report here Annual Reports and Accounts 2023 Annex Government Department Annual Reports.

Chief Officers are best placed to provide detailed information to PAC given that there are 128 Service Performance Measures covering a very broad range of service performance across all Ministerial departments.

2. What (if any) are the root causes in the failure to meet targets where they have been missed?

The Service Performance parts of the Annual Reports and Accounts 2023 Annex Government Department Annual Reports provide narrative on performance. Root causes for not meeting targets vary according to the different circumstances of different services.

Service Performance Measure targets are designed to be achievable though stretching and it is expected that some will not be achieved. It would be easy to set targets that were all achieved, however that would not help drive improvement in service delivery.

As above, Chief Officers are best placed to provide detailed information to PAC given that there are 128 Service Performance Measures covering a very broad range of service performance across all Ministerial departments.

3. Which departments meet most targets?

This information is available at Annual Service Performance Measures for 2023 (gov.je)

4. Which departments contribute to the most missed targets?

This information is available at Annual Service Performance Measures for 2023 (gov.je)

5. What can be learnt from the good performance shown in the 55% of targets met?

The Service Performance parts of the Annual Reports and Accounts 2023 Annex Government Department Annual Reports provide narrative on performance, including where targets have been met.

As above, Chief Officers are best placed to provide detailed information to PAC given that there are 128 Service Performance Measures covering a very broad range of service performance across all Ministerial departments.

6. Why is data from HCS and schools excluded from this reporting?

HCS is measured via an annual independent Picker survey which ran from October 23 to January 24.

Schools do not have currently have a mechanism that measures customer satisfaction.

7. What would performance look like with HCS included?

The performance from the HCS picker survey results was 83%.

This data would not be included in overall customer satisfaction for GoJ as it is an annual survey and different to how other departments measure satisfaction on a regular basis for their services.

8. Why is data not held centrally on schools complaints?

Schools do not currently use the central feedback management system to record and/or handle their complaints and each school have their own processes. However, the decision has been made that schools will need to use the same process/system and currently work is in progress for implementation and will be in place for the start of the next academic year in September 2024.

9. Most complaints relate to how to access services. What is being done to improve performance in this area?

Department Feedback managers discuss any learning/improvements from complaints on a monthly basis. This has highlighted the following areas of improvement in relation to how to access services':

• better digital offering

• improving communication (written and verbal) for a right first time' approach

• improvement and maintenance of premises and facilities

• training delivered to promote a more consistent and positive customer experience.

Areas of performance implementation of the SAP suite:

"2023 saw the implementation of the SAP suite of products and new business processes into finance, HR, assets, health and safety, procurement and inventory functions."

Across the year (2023) 81% of suppliers were paid within 30 days

10. How does this compare to previous years?

Across 2022, 80% of supplier invoices were paid within 30 days of the invoice date.

11. At the start of the year, many old invoices were discovered that had not been paid?

In the first quarter of 2023, there were 8,000 invoices received relating to goods and services provided in 2022 and earlier. At the start of any financial year there will always be invoices received relating to goods and services provided at the end of the previous financial year. These invoices and any older invoices received were paid once the necessary due diligence and budget holder approval had been received.

12. What progress has been made on this during the year?

All invoices for goods and services provided in 2022 or earlier that have been received and approved by budget holders were paid during the year.

13. How long is it taking to pay the remaining 19% of suppliers?

Some invoices take longer to pay as they go through the necessary due diligence and may be disputed before being approved and submitted for payment. In 2023, these invoices took an average of up to 66 days to be paid after being submitted for payment.

14. What targets should the Government be setting for prompt payment?

The Government aims to pay at least 80% of suppliers invoices within 30 days of the invoice date. Performance against this target is published in the Government's Service Performance Dashboard.

15. What actions are being taken to improve prompt payment?

Management information provided following the implementation of Connect has shown that when the Connect Ariba system is fully used by departments and suppliers, invoices are paid more promptly. To improve prompt payment the use of Connect Ariba system has been promoted with suppliers and, where necessary, additional training provided to suppliers. This has contributed to a reduction in the average time to process invoices and an improvement in the promptness of payment.

16. What efficiencies have been achieved by the implementation of new systems? How are these being measured?

It is too early to measure efficiencies from the implementation of the Connect Programme. The implementation of the Connect system will enable the provision of management and financial information that will enable the Government to measure service levels and the delivery of efficiencies in the future.

Areas of performance the impact of major events on the finances of Government:

"2023 saw the Government deal with a number of major incidents. In January, there was Island-wide flooding with a concentration of the impact felt in the Grands Vaux area. In November, the Island experienced Storm Ciarán. Throughout the year there has been ongoing support for Islanders affected by the Haut du Mont and L'Ecume II tragedies in December 2022."

17. What financial impact has the above events had on the finances of the States during 2023?

Gross

Major Incident  Area  Cost in  Comments 2023

It is expected that £531k will be covered by Storm Ciarán  SoJ  £1,125k

insurance, resulting in an impact of £604k. Haut du Mont  SoJ  £9,600k  Investigations are still ongoing.

L'Ecume II   SoJ   2,849k No further investigation.

18. What further financial impact is there likely to be from these events in 2024 and beyond?

£6.3m allocated to Major Incidents in 2023 but not spent has been ringfenced in the Central Reserve by the Minister. This will fund spend in 2024, expected to be £4.5-5m. Forecasts for future costs continue to be developed, but any remaining funding could be utilised in future years (subject to Ministerial approval).

19. What actions are being taken to reduce risk and financial impact in these areas?

A Recovery and Resilience Oversight Board was created to take oversight of this important work, following on from the Recovery Coordination Group which ran from December 2022 – September 2023.

The role of the Recovery and Resilience Oversight Board is to maintain overarching oversight and assurance of the Recovery and Resilience Programme which will deliver the ongoing recovery activities from the major incident operations (SPIRE, NECTAR, BARN) and resilience projects related to these incidents.

The objectives of the Programme are to:

• provide overarching leadership, co-ordination and support for the ongoing recovery from the major incidents experienced in 2022/23 (Operations SPIRE, NECTAR and BARN);

• increase the resilience of the Island to respond to and recover from future major incidents, enhancing community and organisational confidence in the resilience of our Island services and infrastructure;

• increase community confidence in the GoJ having the organisational knowledge, facility and processes to respond appropriately and effectively to incidents necessitating Governmental support.

The Accountable Officers for the relevant projects continually review expenditure on them so that the necessary operations and actions are as cost effective as possible and remain on target to deliver key objectives. From a finance perspective the Government has worked closely with insurance brokers, to mitigate financial impact on Government and GoJ-owned entities under our insurance cover.

20. What were the main areas of additional approvals in expenditure that account for an increase of £60.5 million in the final approved budget compared to the approved Government Plan?

On page 182-183 of the ARA 2023 there is a table called d. Reconciliations of Approvals. This shows the reconciliation of the 2023 Approved Government Plan to the Final Approved Budget. Further detail is also given in the Finance Law Delegation Report presented every six months to the States Assembly. The single largest item was related to Health and Community Services deficit fundings.

21. Final expenditure was £30 million less than the approved budget. What were the main reasons for this?

On page 179–180 of the ARA 2023 there is a table called b. Revenue Heads of Expenditure against Approval. This shows the differences between the Final Approved Budget and actual spend by head of expenditure. The single largest item was related to the General Reserve.

22. Were approvals given that were not ultimately required?

Yes. In some cases departments did not spend their full total approval (i.e. Assembly / Minister approval) in the year. As part of the End of Year Flexibility Report some of these amounts were transferred to 2024 to meet emerging pressures.

23. 2023 overall expenditures were up 17% versus 2022. What are the main reasons for this and what actions are being taken to ensure this trend does not continue?

The Financial Review explains the changes in expenditure on pages 68-69.

The largest items were growth in HCS spending and inflationary pressures, including pay awards whilst, some of the drivers (e.g. inflation) are outside of the direct control of the Government. However, the recent CSP clearly set out the Government's ambition to curb the growth in the public sector, including through reprioritising existing budgets where appropriate to deliver our objectives.

24. What level of efficiency savings were generated by the States in 2023? (note: non- allocation of budget is not an efficiency saving)?

As mentioned above £10 million was provided with £7 million of this being delivered by not allocating the full amount of non-pay inflation. This required departments to reprioritise budgets and explore all savings options.

25. What additional efficiency savings measures are currently being considered to offset rising Government costs?

Departments are responsible for their efficiency and savings delivery. Chief Officers put in place plans which are feasible and appropriate to their respective service delivery, outcomes and priorities and deliver against targets. As such, the measures implemented vary across the Government recognising the diverse nature of the service lines, budgetary make-up and constraints.

Some cross-cutting measures have been agreed:

• Critical review of all vacant posts, particularly those that have been vacant for 6 months or more, with a view to deleting such posts and/ or reassessing resources and skills to deliver the respective service/ tasks.

• Reducing use and reliance on Consultancy Services and contingent (temporary) labour. All Departments are reviewing workload and resources necessary for delivery; teams will be expected to use internal resources unless skills and knowledge cannot be found internally and the delivery outcome is essential. New approval processes for the use of consultancy have been established that will require CEO approval.

• Estates Rationalisation will be facilitated by the completion of the new Government Office Project later this year; enabling the release of several leased properties and reducing the Government's estates footprint.

• Prioritisation of resources and spend; ensuring that departments maintain a clear focus on agreed business objectives and priorities and avoid extraneous activities and the costs or opportunity costs consequences.

HCS continues to progress with its Financial Recovery Plan; a comprehensive plan to re- establish grip and control over the Department's finances and financial challenges alongside improved operational control, governance and service delivery. The plan covers all major expenditure (pay and non-pay) and income categories.

26. What did the £3 million of savings in HCS relate to? Particularly when HCS overall expenditure has increased by 23%?

Savings of £3.2m (vs target £3m) were delivered which have reduced the deficit due to significant cost pressures in other areas.

Without these savings the deficit would have been £3.2m higher.

A breakdown from HCS is provided as follows:

27. How significant is the uninsured risks to Government?

The Government's self-insurance levels are increasing due to several factors including an increase in claims and general risk exposure across the insurance programme as well as external market conditions. The significance of the uninsured risk varies across the insurance programme and remains under close review together with the Government's external insurance advisors.

28. What could the impact be of uninsured risks on the future funding requirements for liabilities?

This is currently under review with external risk and insurance advisors with a report due in the coming months.

29. Given the cost of obtaining additional risk insurance, do you feel the present program has the right balance between risk exposure and cost to insure against this occurrence? What other Government driven actions are being considered to further reduce risk from these areas and in general?

The review mentioned above includes an in-depth actuarial analysis into each class of insurance and the optimal balance between risk retention and risk transfer. The review will be concluded over the coming months.

30. Why have staff numbers increased?

Please refer to Annual Reports and Accounts 2023 Annex Government Department Annual Reports for details of specific staff recruitment examples.

31. What are the procedures and controls for managing and approving staff increases? Are these sufficient?

WEAR (Workforce Expenditure approval request – for all GoJ apart from CYPES) and VAR (Vacancy approval request – for CYPES) processes were in place during 2023 requiring any replacement of existing staff or new positions would need to go through manager, finance, Chief Officer approval head of any recruitment taking place. This was the case for both replacement of existing positions and any new positions.

32. What additional benefits can the public expect to see from the additional staff employed by Government?

CYPES

The investment in the schools workforce and inclusion offering increased provision for children and young people though improved support to those with Records of Need and Special Educational Needs across our schools and early years provisions. Under the model school for inclusion, the Government was able to increase staffing and provide increased support to some of the most vulnerable children and young people. This included mental health leads, councillors, specialist teachers, SENCOS and designated safeguarding leads. Increased numbers of teaching and teaching assistants in schools has provided an enhanced classroom experience. It also meant that in 2024, there were fewer recruitment and retention issues across the schools workforce.

HCS

The investment within HCS is targeted at improving the service delivery to the public in areas such as mental health services, interventional radiology and increased Theatre capacity by increasing the size of the workforce in these areas. In addition, several of the recruitment activities undertaken during 2023 have brought in new employees to fill existing and new vacancies.

JHA

Investment within the Fire and Rescue and Ambulance services has been used to recruit additional staff to mitigate emerging risks and issues that directly impact on the service's operational capacity. These risks and issues include fires in tall buildings and increases in demand for ambulances. The investment in the Ambulance service is so that they can continue to meet Ambulance response times. The Fire and Rescue service has also recruited more retained fire fighters so that that they are operating as cost-effectively as possible. They have also secured more resources in fire safety prevention area to help prevent and reduce the risk of fire.

I&E

Investment is expected to improve the quality of customer service particularly in front-line services such as sport and our regulatory functions, improvement in planning services, the introduction of the Rented Dwelling licences and increased public health functions. As a result of Brexit, all food, animals and plants are checked for safety (food consuming) and biosecurity (protection of disease and pests). Islanders can benefit from improved sports and leisure facilities.

33. Overall staff costs have risen by £72 million. How is the value for money of this increase assessed?

The £72million increase relates to 13.9% increase of the total wage bill. This is made up of:

• 7.9% pay increase

• Costs of additional headcount

The provision of a 7.9% pay increase was a States Employment Board decision and was provided so that the Government continued to remain competitive in the market against other organisations. One of the focuses during 2023 was on retention of staff. Additional costs linked to headcount were part of the growth which the States Assembly agreed in the Government Plan.

The majority of staff increase was in order to strengthen frontline services to the public.

34. In previous years, there was a voluntary release scheme in place. Why was this scheme not implemented in 2023, and what impact did its absence have on the organization's operations?

The filling of essential vacancies was prioritised during 2023. The use of a scheme was therefore not required during 2023.

35. There has been a further impairment of £2 million recognised in 2023 for the hospital (in addition to the £8 million recognised in 2022). What was the reason for the further impairment?

Further write-downs are for designs which will not be used, for instance the following:

• Mental Health - 50% - £771,935 - The mental health building on the northeastern corner of the site is not being pursued in NHF.

• Knowledge Centre 50% - £461,247 - Likewise, it has been decided to retain the Jersey Water Building and not locate the Knowledge and Education Centre at Overdale.

• Multi storey car park) 100% - £783,660 - There is no multi-storey car park and no re-use of the design information.

The above contributed to the total write-off.

36. How much is held in assets in the course of construction relating to the hospital project?

Total spend from 2019 to end May 2024 is £128.5m with £13.2m write offs giving a net £115.3m held in AUCC.

37. What is the total value spent and written off in respect of hospital projects over the past 6 years?

The C&AG covered this in her report: Learning from Previous Hospital Projects – a Follow Up Review (15 May 2023). The figures for 2023 are included in the Annual Report and Accounts.

Type of Receivables:

"The value of trade receivables has more than doubled from £20.3m to £49.8m."

38. Why is there such an increase?

This was a combination of a number of factors including the Connect system implementation as mentioned below, 2022 had a lower balance of £20.4 million due to a classification change of CLS departmental debtors in 2023 and an increase in the subsidiary company amounts.

39. The level of provision against receivables has not increased significantly. Is all debt considered recoverable?

Given the reasons for the increase above the Government has not deemed these as factors to increase any provisions. Provisions are calculated based on the age of the debt and expected recoverability.

40. Has there been a deterioration in the performance of Government in terms of debt collection? What is being done to address this?

Throughout 2023 the collection of tax and social security debt continued using established debt management processes. The implementation of Connect Finance at the start of 2023 introduced new standard processes across government for the raising of invoices and the collection of invoiced debt. In the first half of 2023, the Connect system and new standard processes were being embedded and this impacted on debt collection. In the second half of 2023, debt management activity resumed fully and the debt collection of invoices improved ahead of the year end.

41. Please can you provide an update in relation to the development of a digital summary Report for the 2023 report and accounts?

A digital "In brief" version of the Annual Report and Accounts was produced and published online and can be read at Annual Reports and Accounts 2023 In Brief.pdf (gov.je)

42. Please can you provide an update on developments to improve understandability' in relation to the 2023 Report?

Following publication of the 2022 report, a self-assessment process was undertaken, including seeking out detailed feedback from the Jersey Audit Office to identify areas for improvement.

The 2023 Annual Report and Accounts builds on the progress and improvements made in the 2022 report as identified in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on Annual Reporting. This included improved navigation and sustainability reporting. This progress has been carried into the 2023 report.

As a result of this, the 2023 report, for example:

• included an "In brief" summary within the main body of the document

• included a summary of 128 service performance measures across Government

• provided more information on wholly-owned entities and non-ministerial entities

• undertaken further work with the Communications team to improve readability

• provided additional guidance to Departments with the aim of improving the overall quality of the narrative in the Performance Report and the Department Annual Reports.

1. Has there been any field testing' or plans for field testing with groups who would benefit from improvements in accessibility?

The Government actively follows the Good Practice Guidance set out by the Comptroller and Auditor General and has regard to Good Practice in Annual Reporting as set out by the National Audit Office and will continue to make improvements in line with that guidance.

Following publication of the 2022 accounts, a self-assessment process was undertaken, including seeking and out detailed feedback from the Jersey Audit Office to identify areas for improvement. The same exercise will be carried out for the 2023 Annual Report and Accounts.

The Government is committed to ensuring accessibility standards are met across all communications and this forms a large part of the recent Information and Engagement Review. Actions on accessibility and understanding of Government reports, documents, and communications, as part of the review, are currently being worked on.

The Government of Jersey's Disability Inclusion Officer has provided input and advice on the Government Programme suite of documents (which includes the Annual Report and Accounts and Government Plan). As a result of that input and advice the Government Plan is now published in a more accessible HTML format.

It is currently under consideration whether that is an appropriate and proportionate approach for the Annual Report and Accounts in future, given its length and technical nature, as required by the Jersey Financial Reporting Manual.

2. Do you consider this to be a useful way of assessing the effectiveness of your communications?

Yes.

3. How will you evaluate these improvements to see whether increased access and understanding has occurred?

As set out above, the Government actively follows the Good Practice Guidance set out by the Comptroller and Auditor General and has regard to Good Practice in Annual Reporting as set out by the UK Office for National Statistics and will continue to make improvements in line with that guidance.

Following publication of the 2022 report, a self-assessment process was undertaken, including seeking out detailed feedback from the Jersey Audit Office to identify areas for improvement and the same exercise will be carried out for the 2023 Annual Report and Accounts.

Feedback received from stakeholders is also taken into account, including States Members, the media and members of the public. Visitor and download statistics on gov.je are also used to inform understanding of how the documents are engaged with. The Government is not identifying a major unmet need from Islanders.

43. Please can you inform the committee how you have engaged with key stakeholders in developing Annual Report and Accounts 2023. Who are the key stakeholders for the Annual Report and Accounts and how is the Report prepared and made available to meet the needs of these various stakeholders?

The Government has provided a separate response to the Committee on the communications strategy which outlines the different methods of engagement. In summary, the key audiences identified are as follows:

• The interested public

• States Members, Scrutiny Panels

• Auditors

• ALOs, Financial community and financial institutions.

The channels used to communicate with these audiences include:

44. Please can you update the committee if you plan on producing/developing a list of key stakeholders for the Annual Report and Accounts and will this be made available?

See response to Q43 above.

45. Which departments gave briefings to their respective Minister in relation to their performance across 2023? Can the PAC also be provided with links to these briefings in confidence for its own awareness/information?

Chief Officers will provide responses in their respective replies to PAC.

46. The PAC notes that recommendation 6 in the 2021 review was accepted. However, as of yet "questions in order to gauge the level of public understanding in relation to how they can access and track government performance through the gov.je website" have still not been included in the Annual Social Survey. Can you inform the committee if you still intend to implement this recommendation?

The complete text of Recommendation 6 states "As part of the Annual Social Survey in 2023, the Government of Jersey should seek to include questions in order to gauge the level of public understanding in relation to how they can access and track government performance through the gov.je website."

This recommendation was simply to seek to include questions'. The Chief Statistician accepted the recommendation on that basis and did seek to include such questions alongside all the other requests for questions in the 2023 Jersey Opinion and Lifestyle Survey (JOLS – note that the Survey has not been called the Jersey Annual Social Survey since 2015 - see Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (JOLS) (gov.je)).

Based on the advice of the JOLS Advisory Panel (which included a representative from the independent Statistics Users Group), the outcome was a decision by the Chief Statistician not to include questions in the 2023 Jersey Opinion and Lifestyle Survey because other requests for the limited space in the survey were deemed to have higher priority and because it was not deemed appropriate to ask about government performance data that were undergoing change. The Chief Statistician wrote to the Chair of PAC on 8 June 2023 explaining his decision. This recommendation was closed on 10 June 2023 P.A.C.1/2023 States Annual Report and Accounts 2021- Chief Executive and Treasurer's Response and no further work is being done.

The Government Performance Framework has two components – the long-term Island Outcome Indicators, derived from Future Jersey, and the in-year departmental Service Performance Measures which are reported on online Service Performance Measures (gov.je). Links to annual Service Performance data is provided within the Annual Report and Accounts, alongside links to Departmental Annual Reports which include commentary on service performance.

The Chief Statistician presented to the then PAC on 28 June 2023 on proposals to improve the suite of Island Outcome Indicators and their presentation. The PAC were supportive of the proposed changes. This work to improve the Island Outcome Indicators has continued and the staff of the Chief Statistician are presenting to PAC on the latest iteration of these proposals on 19 June 2024 – see Beta version of indicators and new presentation here Island Outcome Indicators chart (gov.je)

Improvements have been made to the presentation of the departmental Service Performance Measures, which are now available as a dashboard – see Service Performance Measures (gov.je)

The Government of Jersey website home page Government of Jersey now contains a link for Statistics and Performance so that such data is easier to find.

The Chief Statistician remains of the view that there is little value in seeking the views of the public where improvements are in train because of known issues. If research is needed, focus groups are likely to be a much more effective way to gain insight than questions in JOLS, as they provide the opportunity to test in more depth participants needs and ability to navigate to and access government performance data.

As stated in the response to Recommendation 6, the Chief Statistician remains open to further engagement with PAC on how to improve accessibility of government performance data.

The tracker response to Recommendation 6 is given below:

"The Chief Statistician has made decisions on the content of the 2023 Jersey Opinion and Lifestyle Survey (JOLS) which have been communicated to the chair of the PAC on 8 June 2023.

"There were requests for 30 pages of questions for the 2023 JOLS against the 15.5 pages of space that was available for questions; the Chief Statistician therefore had to make tough choices in prioritising the content of 2023 JOLS.

"Statistics Jersey already knew that the data supporting the Jersey Performance Framework was difficult to find and hard to interpret. This was reflected in a number of the actions 14 to 21 in the Engagement and Information Improvement Report.pdf (gov.je) that was published in November 2022. Statistics Jersey had a work programme in hand to address these actions – the first part of which was improvements to the presentation of the Service Performance Measures, which went live in April 2023 Service Performance Measures (gov.je)

"Further changes were made on 31 May to the web pages holding statistical and performance data, to make them more findable. This page Statistics and performance (gov.je) is now findable from the front page of gov.je, for instance; we plan to make further improvements now these new pages are live. Statistics Jersey are also working on improvements to the content and presentation of the Island Outcome Indicators and will brief the PAC on 28 June.

"The 2023 JOLS survey went live in early June (i.e. at the same time as the improvements to the website) and respondents have a couple of months to respond. Given this timing it is probable that were the suggested questions included respondents would most likely be responding based on recollection of the old web pages and the responses will be out-of-date by the time they were published.

"Given the severe constraint on space for JOLS 2023, and the work already in hand to improve the relevance and presentation of Government Performance Data, the Chief Statistician (advised by the JOLS Advisory Panel, which includes representatives from the Statistics Users Group) therefore took the decision not to include the requested question in 2023 JOLS. It is hoped that the changes made will improve access to the data on Government of Jersey performance - the Chief Statistician is open to further engagement on how to improve accessibility to this data."

Given the above response:

1. What importance does government place on accountable reporting and performance management and where is this evident?

Government takes this seriously as is evident in:

• The detailed reporting on performance in the States of Jersey Group 2023 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je)

• The publication of departmental Service Performance Measures

• The publication of the Annual Reports and Accounts 2023 Annex Government Department Annual Reports

• The Accountability report that forms part of the Annual Report and Accounts (see below)

• The Governance Framework and Annual Governance Statement questionnaire which Accountable Officers must complete.

2. Is there an accountability framework?

Pages 112-204 of the States of Jersey Group 2023 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) are an Accountability report. As part of compiling this report, each Accountable Officer signs an Annual Governance Statement questionnaire for their area of responsibility. This is explained in more detail on pages 123-124.

3. Who undertakes performance reviews?

This was explored at length in evidence provided to the Public Accounts Committee's review into Performance Management and the subsequent report published by the Committee. In particular, sections 6 and 7 of the Committees report deal with this.

4. What are the departmental performance metrics and are these metrics composite or individually tailored?

This was explored in the Committee's review of Performance Management. In particular, each department is responsible for maintaining and publishing Service Performance Measures.

5. What happens when performance is poor (what are the sanctions/steps taken to improve) and how is this carried out?

This is a matter for the performance management process as outlined in the Committee's report on Performance Management.

6. What narrative accompanies any performance related data and how is this formulated? Is it led by the Chief Officers of the department and does the CEO oversee the final account?

The in-year departmental Service Performance data includes departmental narrative where appropriate – see Service Performance Measures (gov.je). As already explained above the Annual Reports and Accounts 2023 Annex Government Department Annual Reports provide narrative on performance, the content of which is signed off by Chief Officers.

7. Is there a standard reporting framework or does it differ from department to department?

As explained above, there is a standard reporting framework for reporting of in-year Service Performance Measures and for Departmental Annual Reports.

47. Can you inform the committee how and when you plan to fulfil this recommendation?

See answer to question 46.

I trust this provides you with all the information you need but let me know if there is anything additional you require.

Yours sincerely

Tom Walker

Acting Chief Executive Officer

D +44 (0)1534 440442 E t.walker@gov.je