States drop the idea of axing three departments
Tuesday 24th May 2011, 2:57PM BST.
States chief executive Bill Ogley
LEAKED plans to cut one-in-seven States managers and axe three departments have been dropped, the States’ top civil servant has confirmed.
In response to questions under the Code of Practice on Public Access to Official Information by the JEP, States chief executive Bill Ogley has confirmed that the plans – revealed by the newspaper last September -are not being acted on.
The plans could have meant the end of the Economic Development, Housing and Transport departments, and could have meant that tax collection, Harbours, the Airport and car parks would have been outsourced or privatised.
Mr Ogley also confirmed that there are no new plans about restructuring the States – he said any proposals under consideration had already been made public.
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Civil Service 1 : Public 0
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expansion for serco then??
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So the States have bottled out on cutting back to save money?! so the rest of us continue to pay for overstaffed departments, early pensions etc…. marvelous.
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On reading this, two words spring to mind.
TURKEYS, CHRISTMAS
The fact that it was leaked, so what.
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So who’s buddies jobs are they saving!
reminds me of the saying “I’m alright Jack ….
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W.T.F……? what is going on there then….no restructure….who said ,…? why…a lumbering monolith voting for it’s own future….?
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Poor old Bill, he just doesn’t get it.
For all his chest puffing macho bluster he cannot shift the dead hand of the mandarins of the Civil Service. The bright eyed,naive and enthusiastic new boys have been bringing in their hit-men since ’92 when Tom ‘Machete’ Machin was brought in to ‘sort out’ the States employees.Here we are nearly 20 years later with the service as bloated and lethargic as it ever was.I’m not normally a betting man but my money says Mr.Ogley will soon be spending more time with his family.
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I would get rid of the management and see how things went. You never know things might run better. If so a win-win for all except the few management needing to find new jobs that is.
It is time for a major shake up in the civil service now. I would prefer more nurses and less pen pushers/overseers. I am sure the majority would agree with me.
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To be fair the privatisation of many public services in the UK hasn’t exactly worked so this may actually be a silver lining. Just need to look at the state of Network Rail, TV Licensing, Inland Revenue collection, Royal Mail, BAA, segments of the NHS etc and many of the utility companies that were promising lower rates that haven’t delivered.
Personally I’d rather an inefficient airport and harbour that stays open than risk a private company going under grounding planes and boats.
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Adrian 8
I, too, am sure the majority would agree with you with regard the pruning of pen pushers/overseers and top management.
However, the plans could have meant the end of the Economic Development, Housing and Transport departments. Surprisingly, all departments which greatly affect the lives of the least wealthy members of society…
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What a shame. Only the other day I was flabbergasted to learn thet the States Parks and Gardening department have SIX managers for 52 staff! I’m told that one manager is in charge of 5 men and is paid civil service Grade 10. I think thats about 45-50k a year. Pathetic and a waste of taxpayers money.how can that sort of waste be justified I ask you all.
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Much as I want to see the Jersey civil service become more efficient, the idea that tax collection should be outsourced to the private sector is folly of the highest order.
Where the States could and should be looking for efficiencies is putting the tax and social security offices together such that one set of staff can manage both sets of files. It would probably do a great deal more to manage compliance than running a grass-up-your-neighbour hotline. But that doesn’t get you JEP headlines…
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#11 ‘one manager is in charge of 5 men and is paid civil service Grade 10. I think thats about 45-50k a year. ..how can that sort of waste be justified I ask you all.’
Dunno. Ask the finance industry, that’s probably the example they’ve been following.
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Born Warrior (10), all departments which greatly affect the lives of the least wealthy members of society…
I cannot agree with you. Welfare is the function of the welfare department, so why should they not manage all welfare?
The Housing Department manage houses. That is property management. Social housing is a ‘house for life’ be it subsidised or not. Some occupants of social housing are no longer your ‘least wealthy members of society’.
Likewise Transport. A free flowing transport system benefits us all, but the current Transport Department is moribund and benefits nobody, rich or poor. They only do what they have always done best; collect parking dues, issues parking tickets and subsidise buses. Meanwhile the traffic jams only get worse. Where is the benefit in any of that to your ‘least wealthy members of society’?
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Mac (12) the idea that tax collection should be outsourced to the private sector is folly of the highest order.
Why do you say that? HMRC have outsourced to EDS. A really complex tax system with an even more complex IT system. The current spate of ‘tax umbrage’ are lope holes being closed. What is it you have to hide?
Otherwise I am with you.
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#11.
‘one manager in charge of 5 men’.
I can top that,folks. We had a department that had 4 managers and no staff for them to be in charge of!
Perhaps they took it in turns?
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Mark 14.
Of course, you are right in saying that ‘all’ government departments affect ‘all’ citizens in some way or another. However, there are some government departments which affect certain sections of society more than others and, in my opinion, the three in question fall into that category.
Take for instance the Economic Development Department. One of the many tasks of this department is to encourage inward investment with the aim of creating job opportunities and, obviously, the consequent work-related training schemes.
Ever heard of a wealthy professional requiring job training or employability skills (and I mean job training not profession-related skill aquisition). I doubt it!
Those who require such training are those who have not had the opportunity to study or train for a profession…for the greater part, the least wealthy members of society.
Now, let’s consider the Transport Department. One of the most important tasks of this department is the management of public transport – the poor man’s vehicle!
The people who use public transport (excluding tourists and the environment-friendly) do so because they cannot afford to run a car, in other words – the least wealthy members of society.
Be honest, when was the last time you saw a well-to-do professional taking a bus?
Finally, let’s take a look at the Housing Department. Yet again, a department with multiple tasks, the main being that of providing housing for people who are unable to house themselves due to ‘hardship’.
How many professional people actually suffer hardship? Not many I presume!
In fact, the majority of States tenants (not all, I admit) are from low-income groups and thus cannot afford to rent in the private sector.
Well, I have put forth my views for your consideration…now, can you tell me how a department which administers contributions, pensions and benefits (i.e. The Welfare Department) can also deal with inward investment, transport management, fair housing and the task of upgrading accomodation?
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